By Emilee White:
After a disappointing weekend away, the Utah Jazz are coming off of a double-loss going into Saturday, Oct. 28th matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. Taking an early lead over the Lakers, the Jazz held off the Lakers for the entire game and by the final buzzer, took another 96-81 victory over the Los Angeles team.
To start the game, forward-center Derrick Favors was the first to get points, giving the Jazz the lead of the game. The Lakers followed in suit with their own points, tying the score early on, but forward Joe Ingles answered with a three-pointer. The two teams went back and forth with shots on the basket, but the Jazz found a breakaway early in the first quarter and held it for the remainder of the quarter — as well as the entire game.
The second quarter was more of the same with each team getting points up, but it was the Lakers trying to get the lead as they trailed the Jazz by more than 10 points, and by the end of the first half, the Jazz led 56-45.
A tip-in by center Rudy Gobert started the third quarter strong for the Jazz followed by a layup from Ingles. Again the Lakers answered the Jazz with their own points, but they stayed trailing. The Lakers managed to get within a few points of the Jazz, closing up the gap, but the Jazz brought their lead back to at least 10 and by the end of the third quarter, they were leading 75-64.
The Lakers scrambled to get a lead over the Jazz in the final quarter of the game, but couldn’t catch up to the the Jazz in time. With a solid 15 point lead, the Jazz finish the game 96-81 victors, defeating the Lakers again.
Up next for the Jazz, they will continue their home games with a matchup against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, Oct. 30 in the Vivint Smart Home Arena. Tipoff is set to begin at 7 p.m. MT.
