Game Recap: Utah Jazz trash Los Angeles Lakers, win big in LA: 96-79

The Utah Jazz started the game red hot, taking a 7-0 lead early. Then the wheels came off. The Los Angeles Lakers put together a 18-0 run to take the lead 25-11 with 2:33 left in the first.  The Jazz had a little momentum going into the second quarter, but still trailed by eleven, 27-16.

Alec Burks, Enes Kanter & Jeremy Evans have gotten the Jazz back into the game and definitely deserve extended minutes this qtr. #UTAatLAL

— JazzBasketball (@Jazzbasketball1) February 12, 2014

Jazz started the second quarter on a tear and took the lead 32-30 with four minutes left in the half. Enes Kanter had his outside shot falling and Alec Burks added some buckets to pull us back to a two point lead. The Jazz exploded in the final four minutes of the quarter capping of a 32-10 second quarter with a 16-5 run.

The Second half started out similarly to the first, the Jazz hit a couple of shots early and then the Lakers got some easy buckets to pull back to within one 53-52 midway through third. Coach Tyrone Corbin put in Kanter, Burks, and Jeremy Evans to see if they could replicate the run they made in the first half. Led by Gordon Hayward, they helped push the Jazz lead back to eight 68-60 to end the third.

The Jazz put together a solid fourth quarter defensively, and put away a team that didn't want, nor deserve, to win. Final score 96-79

Positives:

The Bench...Alec Burks Here is his finishing line 8-11 (1-1 from three) 7-11 from the line, and three rebounds for a total of 24 points. Granted, the Los Angeles Lakers were not at full strength, but Burks' points came within the offense tonight. There were only a couple of times when he broke out of the play and went one on one with his defender.  Nice work by Burks.

Ty's adjustments after Lakers' runs and adjustments. Couple things that I noticed from Corbin tonight. First, he left Trey in at the beginning of the second quarter which allowed the Jazz to continue their run and eventually take the lead in to halftime.  Whether it was determined before the game or during the game. The Jazz were switching almost everything 1-3 it showed up when Burks, Hawyard, and Diante Garret were in as well as when Brandon Rush subbed in for Gordon. This allowed our big men to stay home and somewhat eliminate helping the helper, which we struggle with.

Jeremy Evans' Jump Shot

It's very impressive to see how far his shot has come.

Diante Garrett

He didn't shoot the ball well, but had six rebounds and 4 assists in limited (19) minutes. Like Gordon, when your shot is not falling, figure out other ways to contribute.

Negatives only two tonight.

First Quarter Defense... Derrick Favors started out well on Chris Kaman, and then the Lakers mades some adjustments that seemed to befuddle the Jazz. They looked lost and out of position. Granted, the Lakers made some outside shots, but the rotations seemed to be a little slower after  the Lakers adjustments.

Free Throw Shooting