Watching paint dry was more exciting than watching the Lakers-Jazz game until Ed Davis received a technical foul for taunting. The taunting raised the level of intensity of a game that had been close throughout and was punctuated by bad offense on both sides. The Lakers dominated in the paint, outscoring the Jazz by 24, and were predictably inept on the perimeter, making three long distance bombs, while the Jazz were the opposite, hitting wide open perimeter shots but miserable in second chance points.
In the 4th, Derrick Favors muscled his way to the rim and was fouled, a play the Lakers had no chance of stopping. Jabari Brown, and his 10-day contract had another decent outing. Off of a Jeremy Lin feed, he gave the Lakers a two point lead with six minutes left to play. And then, he blocked a Derrick Favors shot with four minutes left with the Lakers up by one.
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But this is the 2014-15 Lakers. No matter the score, their collapse will start with three minutes left. Trailing by one, Trey Burke drove by Jordan Clarkson and scored on a layup. Burke then put the ball on the floor, dribbled past Clarkson and hit a floater to give the Jazz a five point lead.
This is what the Lakers do. Give games away. Take bad shots, like a Jordan Clarkson 25 footer that had no chance in hell of going in.
Jordan Hill sealed a Jazz victory by throwing the ball out of bounds on a fast break. When Gordon Hayward went to the line and the Jazz were up by seven, it all felt like a movie we had seen before. A horror movie. One more game, one more way to not look like a basketball team that knows how to win. But, what else is new? The Lakers continued their pattern in this horrible month of preparing for the lottery.
When the Lakers can’t crack 75 points against the Jazz, this is officially a wave-the-white-flag-surrender-moment. Who cares that Tarik Black had 10 rebounds in the first half and 0 rebounds in the second half. Or that Jeremy Lin and Jordan Hill were a combined 2-15. Jordan Clarkson had 8 points and without his 8 assists the Lakers may have scored in the fifties. Wayne Ellington had 6 points and Ryan Kelly had 2 points. You can’t get much worse than that.
Well, you can. The Lakers can miss out on the top 5 pick altogether. If that happens, and it could- Orlando is all of a sudden in the Lakers rear view mirror- this brutal punishment would all be for nothing.