'It's uplifting': Jazz snap 5-game losing streak with win over LeBron-less Lakers

SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time in a long time, a Utah Jazz lead felt safe.

That was the good news. The bad? That had more to do with who they were playing. But hey, sometimes the right opponent comes around at the right time. Even the Jazz, who have coughed up 14 double-digit leads this season, can hold onto a lead against this version of the Los Angeles Lakers.

With LeBron James and Anthony Davis out, Los Angeles continued its nose dive out of the playoff hunt Thursday, and Utah was the benefactor.

Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points as the Jazz beat the Lakers 122-109 at Vivint Arena. The win snapped Utah's five-game losing streak and pushed them back into fifth in the Western Conference standings with five games remaining in the regular season.

"We've had guys out, we've had a couple games that we haven't done some of the things that fundamentally that we need to do to win — it's uplifting," said Quin Snyder of the importance of getting back in the win column. "I think as much as anything to win and to play a certain way, it's good. We should feel good about this game — that's a good team. You put Carmelo (Anthony), Russ (Westbrook) and Dwight Howard on the floor and the way (Malik) Monk is shooting it, it's a good win."

Twelve years ago, that would have been a terrifying team. In 2022? Well, the Jazz just needed to take care of business; and to their credit, they did. Howard did have a bit of a throwback game with 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Westbrook had 24 points on 18 shots.

Utah, though, led wire-to-wire and by as much as 18 points. There was only one moment where the lead looked to be in somewhat danger. Los Angeles had cut the lead to 10 midway through the fourth quarter and Monk had an open 3-point attempt. If that shot had fallen, things may have gotten interesting.

However, the ball rolled out and the Jazz immediately found Bojan Bogdanovic unguarded in the corner. He didn't miss.

It was the type of sequence that has seemed to have gone against Utah over the last week. This time, though, the Jazz were on the right side of things; Bogdanovic's triple kickstarted a 9-1 run to seal the game. Bogdanovic scored 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting in his return after missing nine straight games with a left calf strain.

"We didn't have a perfect game tonight, but I really liked the way we were able to refocus together and reconnect on both ends," Rudy Gobert said. "And we did a good job closing quarters, especially the second quarter and also at the end of the game.

"It's big for us when we feel that we are slipping into the dark side to come back and pull each other in and then do it together," he added. "I think that's what really good teams are able to do, and we've got to do that for each other."

Gobert averaged six field goal attempts over the five-game losing streak (he was only active for four of those game); but on Thursday, he had 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting and added 17 rebounds.

Yes, he had his customary lobs and putbacks, but the Jazz made an effort to find him in transition and he even scored on two post-ups. On the first, he made a drop step around Talen Horton-Tucker for a layup; on the second, he backed Anthony into the middle of the paint and hit a finger roll over him.

"We've told him to fight for the rim and when he can get the ball deep, he's a big target," Snyder said. "He's been working. He's not getting sped up when he gets the ball. He's been more poised, and that allows him to get angles — things like that."

Gobert credited the team for how they moved the ball but was pleased to have the chance to showcase the strides he's put in on the offensive end.

"When they went small, we had the opportunities to get it down low and see what happens," he said. "I've been putting in a lot of work. I try to make sure that when I get the ball down there, I show that good things can happen."

Good things happened for him and his team as the Jazz won for the first time in 11 days.

"It's big for us, but it's just one game — gotta do it again and again," Mitchell said.

Related topics