SALT LAKE CITY — Who would have ever dreamed the Utah Jazz would be in sitting in the No. 13 spot in the Western Conference standings at any point this season?
That’s exactly where the Jazz find themselves following another home loss — 119-110 to Sacramento Wednesday night — as they took a day off for Thanksgiving before embarking on yet another road trip.
Sure, it’s still fairly early in the season, but the latest loss to a franchise with the longest playoff drought in the NBA (12 years), dropped the Jazz two games below .500 at 8-10. The Jazz are looking up at 12 teams in the challenging Western Conference with only Minnesota (7-11) and Phoenix (3-14) behind the Jazz in the West.
Of course you could make the excuse that the Jazz have played the fewest number of home games as any Western Conference team — seven, the same as Detroit and Brooklyn of the Eastern Conference. Except that the Jazz have actually played much better on the road this season where they are 6-5 than they have at home where they are a dismal 2-5.
Maybe the Jazz would just as soon play on the road, where they have more victories than anyone except the Toronto Raptors.
That’s where they’ll be Friday night as the Jazz take on LeBron James and the new-look Los Angeles Lakers, who are looking like a playoff team in the early going. The 8:30 p.m. (MT) game at the Staples Center will be televised nationally on NBA-TV.
We have to be able to defend better to win, most noticeably in the beginning of the game and at the end of the game. It comes down to being able to get stops. – Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder
After a slow start, the Lakers seemed to have found their rhythm as they stand 10-7, having won six of their last seven games. The Lakers are coming off a 109-105 victory over LeBron’s old team in Cleveland Wednesday night.
James is having still another solid season, averaging 28.9 points per game as well as 8.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists while shooting 52.2 percent from the field and 39.2 percent from 3-point range.
The second leading scorer for the Lakers is former University of Utah standout Kyle Kuzma, who moved into the starting lineup after two games and is second on the team with a 16.6 scoring average on 47.5 percent shooting.
Other Laker starters include forward Brandon Ingram (15.1 ppg), center JaVale McGee (13.4 ppg) and guard Lonzo Ball (8.2 ppg, 4.9 apg). Guards Josh Hart (10.6 ppg) and Lance Stephenson (8.4 ppg) are the top players off the bench.
For the Jazz to get back on the winning track, it comes down to the same thing according to coach Quin Snyder — defense.
“We have to be able to defend better to win, most noticeably in the beginning of the game and at the end of the game,” he said. “It comes down to being able to get stops.”
In Wednesday’s contest, the Kings scored on nine of their first 12 possessions in racing out to a 22-11 lead over the Jazz. It took until late in the third quarter for the Jazz to finally catch the Kings and take the lead briefly, but then they couldn’t stop them on the defensive end in the final quarter.
Down the stretch, after the Jazz had cut a 17-point lead to four, the Kings scored on their final four possessions, including one when Iman Shumpert rebounded a Bogdan Bogdanovic miss and Nemanja Bjelica followed with a layup.
Snyder doesn’t believe his team is lacking in effort, but needs to execute better.
“I don’t think it’s effort or urgency,” he said. “It’s more mental than anything. There comes a point where you realize you have to do it at a higher, quicker level. There are a number of things that go into it, but it all adds up to being able to defend.”
After Friday’s game, the Jazz will play the Kings again, in Sacramento Sunday before returning home to play Indiana Monday night. Then it’s back on the road for three games at Brooklyn, Charlotte and Miami.