The Utah Jazz crushed the Los Angeles Lakers 82-74 as Al Jefferson and C.J. Miles added 13 and 14 points, respectively, to steer their team to victory.
The Jazz have yet to face any defeat in the preseason in what is widely hailed as their best in franchise history as they are charging ahead with a 7-0 lead. They defeated the Lakers for the second time as their first victory came on Sunday night when they overran Los Angeles 99-94.
Andrei Kirilenko was the third best scorer for the Jazz with 11 points. Kobe Bryant scored seven points on 2-for-13 shooting but it was Shannon Brown and Matt Barnes who performer better with each scoring 13 for the Lakers; Pau Gasol scored 11 points while playing for 31 minutes.
The starting five were not good for the Lakers as they went 5 for 18 during the first quarter, with Gasol pitching in a 1-for-5 effort and four misses coming from Derek Fisher. The Lakers were able to capitalize on 12 of 40 shots in the first half but managed to curtail the lead 38-32 in the second as Utah made 10 turnovers in the half.
Bryant missed eight shots from every area of the court in the third while also earning a technical foul. Jefferson and Kirilenko scored seven points each in the third quarter for Utah but the Lakers managed to curb the lead to 73-69 by relying on a lineup by Gasol and four reserves with just 3 1/2 minutes to play.
Their dreams of winning were shattered by Kyrylo Fesenko and Earl Watson as the duo returned with key baskets to lead their team to victory.
