by Alma Bean
Feature Image by Trent Nelson of The Salt Lake Tribune
The Utah Jazz (20-20) takes on the Los Angeles Lakers (19-20) to continue their current four-game winning streak.
All of the Lights
Starting off the game, Los Angeles came ready to shoot even without LeBron James, who is out with an ankle injury he sustained on Thursday night. Los Angeles shot a solid 15/25 (60%) from the field including 5/10 (50%) from the perimeter. Lauri Markkanen (29/9/5) started off hot for Utah as he started the night shooting 3/4 (75%) from the field including going 2/2 (100%) from the perimeter. Coming out the gates at an All-Star level, Markkanen’s performance was overshadowed by D’Angelo Russell (39/3/8). Russell had a stellar performance in the first quarter finishing with 12/3/3 while shooting 5/7 (71.4%) from the field. With Russell finding his touch early, Los Angeles was able to pull away with a favorable 39-31 lead at the end of the quarter.
In the second quarter, it felt as if both teams tried to push the needle with their perimeter shooting and neither were very successful. Los Angeles shot 2/6 (33.3%) from the perimeter with Taurean Prince (12/1/1) and Christian Wood (15/9/1) accounting for those made baskets. Utah went 3/11 (27.3%) from the perimeter with John Collins (19/13/2) making his only shot for the quarter from deep. Though his stat line looks as if he had a bad game, Utah looked to have been worried about Simone Fontecchio (4 rebounds and 4 assists) picking up his third foul in the second quarter. Without Fontecchio on the floor, Los Angeles was able to bait Utah into committing fouls leading to a +8 differential in free throw attempts for Los Angeles. Even with the combined 24 free throws that were taken in the first half between both teams, Los Angeles finished the first half with a narrow 67-64 lead.
The Lake Show
The third quarter felt like the referees wanted to even the playing field by calling any potential foul call. Within the first five minutes, there were seven total fouls that were called leading to Utah having a +7 free throw attempt differential. Even with Utah shooting 11/12 (91.7%) from the line in the quarter, it was Keyonte George (19/3/3) finding his perimeter shot that made a major momentum shift. Around the four-minute mark, George managed to hit back-to-back perimeter shots when he has been averaging 32.3 percent from the perimeter in his rookie campaign. This momentum shift helped propel Utah to a 100-95 lead heading into the final quarter.
Going into the fourth quarter, Los Angeles got word that Cam Reddish (1 rebound) would be out for the remainder of the game with a knee injury. Utah thought they had a similar scare with Markkanen at the end of the third quarter with an apparent hand injury. Thankfully for Utah, Markkanen was able to return later on in the fourth quarter. Austin Reaves (19/4/2) looked to be more aggressive on defense to help Los Angeles get within five-points before fouling out. Once Reaves was out, Jordan Clarkson (21/4/4) and Collin Sexton (27/4/5) was able to unleash the beast and take over. In the final five-minutes where Reaves was out, Clarkson and Sexton assisted or scored on nine of their final 16 points. This run put the nail in the coffin that even Anthony Davis (15/15/10) getting a triple-double couldn’t prevent as Utah was able to pull away with their fifth win in-a-row with a score of 132-125.
What’s Next
Utah will get a short break before taking on the Indiana Pacers on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The Hive Sports 
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