The Lakers were dealt another blow this season as they were defeated by the Jazz (139-116). Los Angeles dropped to 2-8 while Utah improved to 9-3.
Once again, the Purple and Gold looked like a different team in the second half which was dominated by the Jazz. Robert Horry, who won three of his seven NBA championships as a Laker, shared his thoughts on the game. According to him, the Jazz played like a team and that was the biggest difference.
“You look at a team, that’s why I say ‘a team’ – that’s what Utah Jazz play as. They play as a team, they move the basketball,” Horry said on Spectrum SportsNet. “And you get to a point where certain guys are just better than your guys. If you look at this team, you’d never thought you would say ‘Okay, the Utah Jazz are better than the LA Lakers.’
“They got guys like Clarkson who came out and played really well, THT played well, you even the old Rudy Gay play really well. And that’s the thing about them – the way they move the basketball, the way they play as a team makes each and every player on that team better than the Lakers players.
“You see the Lakers, they don’t move the basketball, there’s no pop, there’s no zip. It’s like ‘Okay, I got it, do I shoot or do I pass?’ It’s that thought process that slows them down.
“It’s like ‘If you got it, you got it, go!’ That’s what the Utah Jazz play with. They play with a lot of energy, they play with a lot of continuity like James [Worthy] says, they pass the ball. The one thing that you really respect about Utah is they play hard. They play together.
“And if you look at the way that the Lakers played tonight, they played hard that first half, but seems like one team was in better shape when they came out in the second half and it just outplayed the Lakers in the second half.”
