The L.A. Lakers blew out the Utah Jazz 120-91 on Tuesday night. The game wasn't competitive from about the four-minute mark in the first quarter, where the Lakers opened up an early nine-point lead. The Jazz closed its five-game road trip with another blow-out loss. The only two good teams that the Jazz faced on the trip -- the Boston Celtics and Lakers -- beat Utah by a combined 53 points. The not-good teams the Jazz faced (Washington, New Jersey and Philadelphia) won by a combined 26 points. Any way you slice it, the Jazz were essentially noncompetitive on the road trip.
Jazz Vs. Lakers: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol Lead Balanced Attack Over Struggling Utah
That's left Utah fighting with the Denver Nuggets for the No. 6 seed instead of fighting for No. 3, as the Jazz had been. Honestly, it's difficult to ascertain where the slide will stop; that's how bad Utah's looked. Could the Jazz fall all the way to the ranks for the flirting-with-.500 Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies? Or will Deron Williams rally his troops, get Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap on track and boost that win total before the All-Star break? It's all questions in Salt Lake, and not many answers. And by the way, the San Antonio Spurs are currently waiting for the Jazz in Utah. Have fun with that on Wednesday.
Kobe Bryant answered the bell on Tuesday, scoring 21 points on 7-11 shooting. Pau Gasol did too, with 20 points on 9-13 from the floor. And there was Andrew Bynum, rounding out the attack with 19 points on 6-9 shooting. Add in their free throws, and that comes out to 60 points on about 45 shot attempts. That's incredible, and basically unbeatable.
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