Jazz-Lakers Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Dec 27 2011 2:25AM

For better or worse, the Los Angeles Lakers are quickly getting their lone back-to-back-to-back stretch out of the way.

The Utah Jazz, meanwhile, are finally set to take the court in a game that counts.

Los Angeles looks to avoid its first 0-3 start in 33 years Tuesday night when it hosts Utah, which becomes the final team to open its season.

After blowing an 11-point lead late against Chicago on Christmas, the Lakers (0-2) continued their arduous stretch with a 100-91 loss in Sacramento on Monday, shooting 1 of 16 from 3-point range.

Each NBA team will play on three consecutive days at least once due to the lockout-shortened 66-game season, and Los Angeles was forced to face its test right off the bat.

"Everyone is going to have to play three straight games and we will have to find a way through this," coach Mike Brown said. "We have had a lot of practice, followed by a long day today, but everyone has to go through it as well."

Kobe Bryant scored 29 points but missed 14 of his 24 shots, while Metta World Peace scored 19 points off the bench.

The Lakers haven't lost their first three games since 1978 - the season before they drafted Magic Johnson with the No. 1 overall pick.

Bryant wasn't even two months old then.

"We have a lot of games left, a lot of games left," World Peace said. "Everything is going OK. Everything will be great."

Los Angeles looks for its first victory against a Utah team it has beaten 25 of the last 28 times at home, including the playoffs.

The Jazz, though, come in with extra time to prepare for a season opener without legendary coach Jerry Sloan for the first time since 1988.

Utah went 39-43 last season, missing the playoffs for the first time in five years and finishing with a sub-.500 record for the first time since going 26-56 in 2004-05.

It was a tumultuous season with as much attention focused off the court as on it. Sloan abruptly retired in February after a reported feud with Deron Williams, who was traded to New Jersey soon after.

The Jazz finished 8-20 after Sloan retired to slide out of the postseason picture under new coach Tyrone Corbin, who will seek improvement with a largely inexperienced team.

A host of youngsters will play key roles, including 20-year-old Derrick Favors, who came over from the Nets in the Williams trade. He averaged 8.2 points in 20.2 minutes per game after arriving in Utah but will see more time this season, especially after the Jazz traded Mehmet Okur to New Jersey on Thursday.

Rookie lottery picks Alec Burks and Enes Kanter should see plenty of minutes as well alongside Gordon Hayward, the No. 9 overall pick from the 2010 draft.

Hayward scored a career-high 34 points as Utah closed its season with a 107-103 victory over Denver on April 13.

"You see the future out there and the future is bright," Burks said.

Much like Sloan's teams of the past, though, the veteran presence still remains.

Utah will lean heavily on Al Jefferson, who averaged 18.6 points and 9.7 rebounds while playing all 82 games for only the second time in his seven-year career.

Paul Millsap had a breakout 2010-11 in his fifth season, starting all 76 games he played and averaging 17.3 points and 7.6 boards. Fellow veterans Devin Harris and Raja Bell also figure to give Corbin a balance between youth and experience.

"We finished on a high note, won some games," Harris said. "But the downfall we had toward the end of last season was unacceptable. We know that, and we're looking forward to getting back at it."

Utah split four games with Los Angeles last season. The Jazz won 86-85 in L.A. in the most recent meeting April 5 behind 22 apiece from Millsap and Hayward, ending a 17-game losing streak at Staples Center.

Lakers rout Jazz, easily avoid 0-3 season start

By GREG BEACHAM
Posted Dec 28 2011 2:29AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) After finishing three games in roughly 56 hours with their best effort yet, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers demonstrated why their demise might not be as imminent as many thought.

Bryant scored 26 points, Pau Gasol added 22 points and nine rebounds, and the Lakers avoided just the fourth 0-3 start in franchise history with a 96-71 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

Metta World Peace scored 14 points for the Lakers, who had much more life than the Jazz despite playing their third game in three nights to open the season. Los Angeles ran away with a dominant third quarter, making a 27-8 surge out of halftime in the club's first win for coach Mike Brown.

After a tumultuous preseason under a new coaching staff, several injuries and the NBA's only three-games-in-three-nights start, the Lakers realize they're still lacking a consistent identity and a thorough knowledge of Brown's game plan. At least a blowout win over the Jazz allowed them to enjoy their first day off since training camp began.

"We're a very active team," Bryant said. "This is a blue-collar team. We're a scrappy bunch. You saw that. We're going to fight and scratch and claw for everything, as it should be. That'll get us by."

With a Christmas loss to the Chicago Bulls and another defeat in Sacramento one night later, the Lakers got off to their first 0-2 start since the 2002-03 season. But Los Angeles has started 0-3 just three times in franchise history - just once in the last 50 years (1978-79).

Utah missed 17 of its first 19 shots in the second quarter while the Lakers made a 13-0 run capped by a one-handed dunk by World Peace, the normally ground-bound leader of Los Angeles' second unit. Los Angeles blew out the Jazz after halftime, jumping to a 68-39 lead with a 12-2 run.

"To hold a team to 32 percent and 71 points in an NBA game, I don't care who you're playing, you're doing something right on that end of the floor," Brown said. "The focus, the energy, the effort, that communication and trust that we brought defensively, was exciting to see."

The Lakers comprehensively shut down the Jazz, the last NBA team to open its regular season. Paul Millsap had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Utah, but coach Tyrone Corbin scowled throughout the lowest-scoring performance in an opener in franchise history.

"They're a veteran team, they have a lot of pride, and they have some great players in that locker room," Corbin said. "I told our guys before the game, `If you expect them to come out and lay down because they're playing there games in three nights, you're mistaken.' They wanted to get the monkey off their back as soon as they could, and they played like it."

In the Jazz's first season opener without coach Jerry Sloan running their bench since 1988, Utah made just 20 shots in the first three quarters and shot 20 fewer free throws than the Lakers. Al Jefferson went 2 for 16, C.J. Miles was 1 for 8, and rookie Enes Kanter was 1 for 7 in his NBA debut.

At least Utah's 25-point loss was one point better than the biggest blowout loss in Utah opener history.

"It didn't seem like much was working for us," said Utah forward Gordon Hayward, who had seven points. "It felt like we were a little stagnant, just standing around and watching a little bit. They kind of blew it open in the third quarter, and we can't allow that to happen. But it's just one game. We just need to be more confident shooters."

The Lakers got their only back-to-back-to-back series of games out of the way immediately, although they still won't even get consecutive days off until mid-January. When the New York Knicks visit Staples Center on Thursday night, Los Angeles still will be without starting center Andrew Bynum, who will finish his four-game suspension for misbehavior in last spring's playoffs.

The Lakers already are hurting this season, with Bryant nursing a torn ligament in his right wrist and Gasol wearing extra support for his sprained right shoulder. Veteran Matt Barnes, who's dealing with bursitis in his left hip, didn't play for the second time in three games despite a loud fan chant for him in the fourth quarter.

Millsap came off the Utah bench, playing through tendinitis in his right quadriceps that nearly kept him out of uniform. Jazz newcomer Josh Howard had 10 points in 24 minutes.

NOTES: Corbin waited until right before game time to rule in Millsap, the Jazz's sturdy power forward. Millsap was a reserve for most of his first four NBA seasons, but started all 76 games in which he appeared last season. ... Lakers F Troy Murphy fouled out in 32 scoreless minutes, but he also had 11 rebounds and four assists. ... Utah plays five games in the next seven days, including a one-day trip to San Antonio. The Lakers have four games in the next seven days.

Jazz-Lakers notebook

By Dan Arritt, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday December 28, 2011 2:24AM

THE FACTS: Playing their third game in three nights against a team making its season debut, the Lakers were more polished and energized than the visiting Jazz. Kobe Bryant scored 26 points and Pau Gasol contributed 22 as L.A. avoided its first 0-3 start in 23 years with a 96-71 victory Tuesday night at Staples Center.

QUOTABLE: "The focus, energy and effort on defense was exciting to see."
-- Lakers coach Mike Brown, who earned his first victory with the organization.

THE STAT: The Jazz scored their fewest points since a 100-71 loss to the New Orleans Hornets on Dec. 17, 2010. None of the starters for the Jazz scored more than eight points.

TURNING POINT: With the score tied, 22-22, and 7:40 remaining in the first half, Bryant checked into the game after a lengthy breather and immediately sank a jumper to ignite a 13-0 run. The Lakers maintained a 10-point lead at the half and then extended it to 21 with a 15-4 run over the first 4 1/2 minutes of the third quarter.

HOT: The Lakers improved to 20-4 against the Jazz in regular-season games at Staples Center.

NOT: Jazz forward Al Jefferson had a career-worst shooting night when taking at least five field-goal attempts. Jefferson, a 50.2 percent career shooter from the floor, shot 2-for-16 against the Lakers. The eight-year veteran was 2-for-14 in the first half, a major reason why the Jazz were 13-for-50. They finished 29-for-90 (32.2 percent).

GOOD MOVE: Lakers small forward Metta World Peace, coming off a 19-point performance Monday night in Sacramento, capped off the deciding 13-0 run with a thunderous dunk. World Peace passed on an open 3-point attempt and instead dribbled toward the basket and threw down to the joy of the home crowd, giving the Lakers a 35-22 lead.

BAD MOVE: Up by 21 points with a little more than seven minutes remaining in the third game in three nights, Brown decided to reinsert Bryant into the game. Bryant has been playing with a torn ligament in his right wrist, suffered in the closing minutes of a one-sided loss to the Clippers in a preseason game last week. Even with just under four minutes remaining and Utah playing its reserves, Bryant and Gasol were still on the floor. Bryant finally exited with 3 1/2 minutes left, Gasol departed about 90 seconds later.

NOTABLE: Lakers sharpshooter Jason Kapono checked in for the first time this season with 2:02 left in first quarter. He barely drew iron on his first shot attempt but made his second from the opposite baseline. Kapono finished with five points in his first run with the Lakers. Jazz forward Paul Millsap, a game-time decision after re-injuring his quad during practice Monday, finished with a team-high 18 points off the bench.

UP NEXT: For the Lakers, Thursday vs. New York, Saturday vs. Denver, Sunday @ Denver. For the Jazz, Wednesday @ Denver, Friday vs. Philadelphia, Saturday @ San Antonio.

• Jazz: --
• Lakers: Bynum, Caracter, Morris

• Jazz: --
• Lakers: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #49 Tom Washington, #45 Brian Forte, #30 John Goble
• Attendance: 18997
• Duration: 2:24