SALT LAKE CITY — For a night, the Jazz’s identity returned. But it wasn’t enough in the end.

The Jazz stopped the Lakers in transition, they contested shots consistently, and they made life hard for an up-tempo LA attack.

All of that was good enough for Jazz coach Quin Snyder to take plenty of positives away from Utah’s 90-83 loss to the Lakers on Friday at the Staples Center.

The good

The Jazz posted its best defensive rating of the season on Friday — a welcome change to a defense that has been less-than-stellar this season.

“We guarded,” Snyder said. “We executed on the defensive end. We executed the game plan. Our guys played with energy. We did a lot of things very well defensively. There are times even when you play good defense, it’s better offense.”

And there are times when you are playing against the world’s best. LeBron James won the Lakers the game down the stretch. With 3:15 remaining, he made a step-back 3-pointer over Jae Crowder to give LA a nine-point lead. With the way the Jazz were shooting the ball, that lead felt pretty insurmountable. And that’s exactly what it ended up being.

“Nothing to be ashamed of or discouraged by — we want to win, but I thought we played that way we have been looking to play on the defensive end,” Snyder said. “There are nights you aren’t going to be rewarded by that; there are other nights you are.”

This wasn’t one of the nights that ended with a reward, but it was one that ended with at least some promise. The Lakers shot 45.6 percent from the field, 30 percent from 3-point range and had just 10 assists on the night.

The Jazz halted LA’s attempts in transition and the Lakers were actually less effective running than they were in the halfcourt. That was a complete turnaround from Utah’s loss on Wednesday.

“Getting going for us means really defending,” Snyder said. “We haven't been consistent on that. We were focused and good tonight — we just have to continue to replicate that. The wins take care of themselves when you defend.”

The bad

Donovan Mitchell didn’t play in the second half after leaving the game with bruised ribs in the first half. That meant Utah was without its leading scorer for over half the contest, but that doesn’t begin to explain Utah’s porous offense. The Jazz played well enough on the defensive end that they should have been leaving LA with a victory. But it’s hard to win a basketball game when you don’t make shots. And the Jazz didn’t make many.

Utah was 4-for-23 from the 3-point line and shot just 38.8 percent for the game. And while some of those misses can be credited to the Lakers’ defense, including James’ block on Alec Burks in the final minutes that helped seal the game, a lot of it was the Jazz just missing open shots.

“We have had some off nights lately,” said Ricky Rubio, who finished with 7 points on 3-for-12 shooting. “We just need to stay aggressive. They will come.”

This isn’t a new problem for Utah — far from it. Outside of Mitchell and Burks, the team doesn’t have a player who can consistently create his own shot, making it so the Jazz have to get open looks for each other. The Jazz have consistently been able to do just that. Snyder's offense is based on ball movement and creating advantages. Utah has run it well, but open looks still need to be made.

“Tonight was a night if we made some shots, maybe it tips the other way,” Snyder said.

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