01/26: LAKERS @ Utah Jazz 1st Half Open Thread and Discussion

Welcome to the 1st half open thread and discussion of the Lakers' matchup vs. the Utah Jazz to end a 3-game road trip. Leave a comment below to share your thoughts on the half.

Q2

LAL 41 UTA 44

Strong finish from the Lakers this quarter. The Jazz love to play a slow pace style of basketball, but they're missing a couple of shots and turning the ball over. Once again, the bench is to be a factor in making the Lakers stay within striking distance, despite a slow start. Lou Williams extended the quarter, drawing fouls, which was beneficial for the Lakers to get back into the game. But, Ivica Zubac stood out from the bench unit. He filled the stat sheet last night against Portland with a double-double, but he finished 5-15 from the field. He looks a little sharper here as players are finding him in the screen and roll, Larry Nance, Jr. in particular was finding him with pretty extra passes. So far, the Lakers have exploited the Jazz's slow pace. Deng and Lou had a pair of quick steps to burn their defender before they get set. Jordan Clarkson showed off some explosive moves to the basket, but he just couldn't finish. The Lakers need more output from the starters outside of Nick Young. Young leads the starting unit with 8 points. Everybody else, not so much. Overall, the team has their work cut out for them if they want this game to be silver lining in what is a forgettable three-game road trip. The 2nd half will open up shortly. 

Q1

LAL 16 UTA 23

As expected, the Lakers would come up very sluggish after a very tough loss in Portland last night. The Jazz got off to a hot start behind Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert, but they've slowed down considerably down the stretch for the Lakers to get going and go from 2-12 to 16-23 to finish the quarter. Nick Young, like Lou Williams last night, picked up the scoring load for the team, hitting a pair of threes to cut the Jazz's double-digit lead. I was surprise Luke Walton didn't put Sweet Lou immediately, but Swaggy P's strong showing when the Lakers were lacking energy this quarter made up for it.