Lakers Lose To West's Worst Utah Jazz, 105-103
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Derrick Favors had 18 points and 14 rebounds and made a putback dunk with 2.1 seconds remaining to lift the Utah Jazz to a 105-103 victory over the depleted Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
With the game tied at 103, Gordon Hayward drove to the basket on Utah's final possession but missed his off-balance attempt as the Lakers converged. Favors grabbed the rebound and slammed the ball through the hoop to snap Utah's four-game home losing streak. Hayward finished with 24 points and nine assists.
Jodie Meeks tied the game at 99-all, but Hayward hit a 3-pointer, made a steal and hit one of two free throws to put Utah ahead.
Jordan Hill put in a follow and then made a pair of free throws to knot the game at 103 with 18.6 seconds left.
Nick Young scored 21 points in 27 minutes before fouling out with 5:45 remaining and Chris Kaman had a season-high 19 points starting in place of Pau Gasol, who was out with a respiratory infection.
Kobe Bryant (knee fracture) and point guards Steve Nash (back) and Steve Blake (elbow) remain sidelined for Lakers, who have lost four in a row. Bryant missed his fifth game after a short six-game comeback after Achilles surgery and is not expected back for three to five weeks.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Alec Burks hit 3 of 4 free throws and then tracked down a long rebound and fed the streaking Hayward for a dunk that made it 96-90. The rim-rocking slam brought a thunderous roar from the first sellout crowd of the season since opening night.
But the Lakers fought back behind Hill, who had 13 points in the period.
Marvin Williams scored 16 points, Trey Burke had 14 points and seven assists, and Burks had 13 points for the Jazz, who stopped their worst home skid since losing seven straight in February and March of 2011.
Utah had been struggling offensively, averaging 88.5 points in the previous six games on 41.2 percent shooting. The Jazz ran often against the Lakers, scoring 25 points on fast breaks.
The Lakers play a more free-flowing game without Gasol and Bryant, but fall into long scoring droughts, don't get back on defense and don't know where to turn in crunch time.
The Jazz are finally starting to learn how to win close games, coming out on top in a contest that featured 14 lead changes and 16 ties.
Los Angeles did have Jordan Farmar, who had 16 points and seven assists.
Farmar missed 10 games with a hamstring tear and then played 33 minutes against Miami on Christmas Day without the benefit of a full practice, scoring three points on 1-of-7 shooting. Without Blake and Nash, they don't have much of a choice but to go with Farmar, who spent last season playing in Turkey.
In their sixth straight game with a different starting lineup, the Lakers made Kaman their featured option. But Hill took center stage when the game was on the line.
But no one blocked out Favors, who flashed a big smile as he headed to the bench after his game-clinching dunk. Meeks missed a 40-foot heave as time expired.
In the see-saw game, Burke went on an individual 7-0 run late in the second quarter to boost the Jazz to a 55-52 lead at halftime.
NOTES: Jazz reserve Mike Harris was not with the team so he could be at the birth of his daughter. . A sizable percentage of the arena cheered loudly for the Lakers, included Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando and his son. . The Jazz have won five of their last six games against the Lakers.
