A great thing about the NBA: you don’t have to wait long for another game. And the Utah Jazz will be eager to get back on the court, back in front of their fans at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Saturday night after a tough Friday in the City of Angels.
The Jazz lost, 95-86, to the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center.
In the second game of the season, the Jazz struggled offensively, shooting 8-for-25 from 3-point territory and committing 23 turnovers.
”Throughout the game, we were just hesitant offensively,” Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said. “We didn’t play with a lot of force. We weren’t precise either. That hesitancy hurt us throughout the game. … If you’re going to turn the ball over offensively, you’re going to make it harder on yourself. That’s what we were doing. We just gave them too many possessions and it really bit us.”
Donovan Mitchell led the way with 24 points. Point guard Mike Conley had 13 points. Forward Georges Niang had 10 points off the bench.
With the game tied at 43 early in the second half, L.A. pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Jazz 31-18 in the period.
”I thought we all just seemed to play a little bit indecisive, hesitant,’ Conley said. “We’re all trying to make the right reads. Tonight we were just a little bit out of sync in that aspect of the game. Thought we played well defensively for the better part of the game, but offensively we were kind of just running in mud and nothing playing with enough force to compete.”</P
Lakers forward LeBron James finished with a game-high 32 points and 10 rebounds. Anthony Davis had 21 points.
The Jazz return to Salt Lake City to take on the Kings on Saturday night.
”The Kings came at us hard in preseason so I think we have to remember that,” Mitchell said. “We’re understanding tonight’s just one game. We can’t really dwell on it too much. We know what we have to fix and we’ll continue to play.”
Wednesday's Best
Donovan Mitchell finished with a team-high 24 points, going 7-for-15 from the floor and a perfect 10 for 10 from the free throw line.
Significant Stats
22
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder will want to see his team take better care of the ball on Saturday night, after committing 23 turnovers — good for 22 Laker points — on Friday in L.A.
+17
LeBron James put on a show at Staples Center, finishing with 32 points, 10 assists and seven boards. He was the difference maker with a game-best plus-17 plus/minus.
The Jazz’s offensive blender can create plenty of open looks, but there weren’t many in a decisive third quarter Friday. The Jazz attempted just three triples in the period, and weren’t able to convert any of them.
Notable
Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic fought through a sprained left ankle in the team’s home opener but was unable to play Friday in L.A. … Veteran point guard Mike Conley will break out of his early season shooting slump eventually, but Conley converted just 3 of his 11 attempts Friday. … The Lakers outscored the Jazz 15-4 on second-chance points.
Up Next
The Jazz return home to Salt Lake City to host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night. The game at Vivint Smart Home Arena is scheduled to tipoff at 7 p.m. MT.
(function($) { $(document).ready(function() { game = { "league": "nba", "year": "2019", "divID": "article_game_stats" } // Load Game Detail Widget getGameDetails(game, loadGameDetail);
// Single Game Settings var UJSGTSettings = { "year": "2019", "league": "nba", "seasonType": "02", "displayType": "nextHome", // all, allFuture, home, away, next, nextHome "mode": "default", // default, promotion, govx "UJSGTgdk": "1YTWe21GWgeS4OD3dS95IAHLU6Vlk6GsTOyQ5-2x5h1A", // links "UJGIVgdk": "1lkbb8y0bZSr2uCcuqggpxwHuHvCejHRv4pdAwE-IA-A", // giveaway "UJSGPgdk": "1Z8ApD-5USWfTFXql8StC6IKaUoLGl7aTFTlNfSOI4wc", // promo "UJSGJgdk": "1CzFJe5goij43p8YP_WsA32qQGO9kScAYJl7jAGg5bFY", // jersey "bLOC": "pagesingle", // specifiy where the button appears "divID": "UJSGT" // inject into this divID };
combinedSingleGameData(UJSGTSettings, loadSingleGames);
// Promotion collapse/expand: Make sure to target the same divID passed in the single game settings. $('#UJSGT').on('click', '.jst-game-special-offer-button', function() { $(this).children('i').toggleClass('fa-flip-vertical'); $parent_wrapper = $(this).parents('.jst-game-special-wrapper'); $parent_wrapper.children('.jst-game-special-offer-details').slideToggle(); $parent_container = $(this).parents('.jst-game-special-offer'); $parent_container.children('.jst-game-special-offer-teaser').fadeToggle();
});
}); })(jQuery);