The Lakers didn’t arrive in Salt Lake City until after 4:00 in the morning Saturday before having to suit up and head to Energy Solutions Arena to take on a tough Jazz team. The Lakers were riding a three game winning streak over the past week, and were looking to close it off with their third win over Utah this season.

Heading into the game the Jazz were 12-9, which was good enough for the seventh slot in the Western Conference. After their three consecutive wins the Lakers were 14-9, which had them sitting in fifth heading into the contest.

First Quarter

The Lakers started the game looking to use their size advantage. This allowed them to jump to an early lead that they were able to sustain for much of the quarter. The combined contributions from Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol certainly allowed the Lakers to establish their post game early in the contest.

As the quarter progressed, however, the Lakers begin to look towards Kobe Bryant to provide some more of their offense. Bryant entered the game just 49 points behind Shaquille O’Neal for fifth on the all-time scoring list, and inched closer in the first quarter. Bryant used an array of offensive moves to attack young Gordon Hayward, and scored eight points in the first quarter.

By the time the first quarter ended the Lakers had established a small lead at 25-22. Los Angeles was able to maintain their lead despite turning the ball over five times in the first quarter, something that has plagued them most of the season. Pau Gasol added nine points in the first quarter as well to lead the Lakers.

Second Quarter

Los Angeles began the second quarter with several of their reserves on the floor. Rookie Andrew Goudelock, who has greatly exceeded expectations thus far this season, began the quarter running the point. Unfortunately for Goudelock, his hot shooting from the previous week was nowhere to be found in the first half in Utah. After forcing coach Mike Brown to call a timeout after dribbling into trouble, Goudelock airballed a three-point attempt.

Many of the things the Lakers were doing well in the first quarter they started to ignore in the second. With the reserve unit on the floor the Lakers needed to make Bynum their main offensive focal point. However, rather than feeding the center in the paint they spent more time shooting long shots.

After several minutes of missed jump shots the Lakers did begin to look to Bynum more in the paint, and Drew racked up 11 points before the first half ended. The Lakers ended up seeing their lead disappear, however, when Raja Bell hit a three-point basket from the corner. L.A. quickly answered with a three of their own, as Bryant hit the team’s first shot from downtown.

The three-pointer from Kobe ended up being just the beginning. Bryant continued to turn up the offense as the quarter progressed. At halftime the Lakers held a slight lead, 49-47.

Third Quarter

Considering how close the first half was it was no surprise that the second half followed the same script. The Lakers and Jazz continued to trade baskets, with neither team building more than a four point lead. The Lakers continued to ride the hot shooting of Bryant, Bynum and Gasol, who combined for over 80 percent of the team’s total offense through the first three quarters.

However, Utah’s bigs were also playing well and giving the Lakers some trouble. Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap were able to match Bynum and Gasol offensively. But the main difference for the Jazz was the play of their bench. There’s no question that bench production has been a major issue for the Lakers so far this season, and the Jazz were able to capitalize on this again tonight.

After a first half that featured 17 lead changes, the third quarter remained a bit more consistent. The Lakers held the lead for the majority of the quarter, but were never able to push their lead beyond six points. As the quarter began to wind down Utah finally was able to get the lead in the second half, overtaking the Lakers with less than a minute to go in the quarter. Utah pushed their lead to three, which was the biggest of the game for them, as the quarter neared its end. However, Matt Barnes hit a three-pointer as time was running out in the third to send the game to the final period tied, 67-67.

Fourth Quarter

Mike Brown began the final quarter with the reserves on the floor, hoping they could provide some solid minutes while Bryant, Gasol and some of the other starters rested. This gave viewers the chance to see an all-rookie backcourt, as Darius Morris and Andrew Goudelock took the court at the same time for the first time in awhile. Unfortunately for Brown and the Lakers the rookie combo didn’t work, and Utah pushed their lead to four, forcing Brown to bring Bryant and the rest of the starters back into the game.

Unfortunately for the Lakers Brown wouldn’t hang around much longer. After a non-call that resulted in a Utah steal and layup, Brown was irate. He went after one of the officials and was quickly ejected from the game. Following the ejection the Jazz were able to extend their lead quickly, turning a tight game into what was beginning to look like a blowout.

However, before Utah could run away with the game Bryant decided to get himself back into the game. The Lakers didn’t score a field goal in the final quarter until there was just 5:56 left in the game. When they did score it was Bryant, who hit back to back threes to get the Lakers on the board in the fourth.

Despite the double digit deficit the Lakers managed to climb back within six points in the final quarter, but that was as close as they would get. The back-breaker came with just over two minutes left in the quarter. With 0.6 seconds left on the shot clock the Jazz passed the ball in to Jefferson, who sank a long jumper that also sank the Lakers. The play was followed by a badly missed Bryant three and another fastbreak basket for the Jazz.

Once again the problem for the Lakers in this game ended up being the bench scoring. The Jazz outscored the Lakers’ bench by a nearly 5:1 ratio. A key player off the bench for the Jazz was Earl Watson, who hit several key shots down the stretch to finish off the Lakers.

By the time the final horn sounded the Lakers had lost their first game of the year to the Jazz in three attempts. L.A. fell to 1-1 on the road trip, losing to the Jazz for the first time this season, 96-87.

During last night’s win over the Denver Nuggets, Lakers forward Matt Barnes picked up a technical foul after an apparent elbow to the chin of Denver forward Rudy Fernandez.

However, a closer look showed that Barnes didn’t actually make contact with Fernandez. But, as was explained following the game, it seems that even though Barnes didn’t hit Fernandez he would have been given a technical foul anyways.

Here’s the play from the game. Fernandez clearly flops, which becomes even more evident once the tape is slowed down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3dUJZy9yI0

During the game, after the replay was shown, it was obvious that Fernandez flopped and that Barnes didn’t actually make contact with him. This caused fans on Twitter to get extremely upset, feeling that the incorrect call was made based on the flop. However, since the call was indeed correct that isn’t really the problem.

As Brett Pollakoff of NBC Pro Basketball Talk points out, flopping is the issue.

“There’s no way to make this any clearer: Flopping is the scourge of professional sports. Saying that’s it’s somehow part of the game and that it’s up to the referees to determine what’s real and what isn’t is completely insane.”

I’m sure most of you will agree.

The last week saw some ups and downs for the Lakers, and finished with the team leaving L.A. for their longest road trip of the season. The team played three times over the past week, and managed to post a perfect record of 3-0. Following last Saturday’s disappointing loss the the Milwaukee Bucks, the Lakers have strung together three consecutive wins and will look to make it four tonight in Utah.

Game Recaps

The Lakers hold off a feisty Nuggets team for their third road win of the season. The Lakers got their most impressive road win thus far, defeating the Nuggets 93-89 amidst a snowstorm in Denver.

L.A. rides three-point barrage to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats. The Lakers may be the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA, but on Tuesday night against the Bobcats they rode the three-point wave to a convincing victory.

The Lakers finally get their second road win, defeating the Timberwolves in Minnesota. L.A. entered this game with a 1-7 record on the road, and after losing to the lowly Milwaukee Bucks the night before needed a win to get back on track. They were able to find that win, despite a late run by the Wolves.

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News of the Week

Kobe Bryant named Western Conference Player of the Month for games played in December and January. After a tremendous start to the season, Bryant was given the award for the 14th time in his career.

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard says he will not sign an extension if traded to the Lakers. After seemingly adding a new team to his list every week, Howard took one off his list when he announced Friday that his desire to be traded to the Lakers no longer existed.

Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum named as starters in the All-Star game. This was the 14th appearance for Bryant in the All-Star game, and just the first for center Andrew Bynum. The Lakers will have two starters on the All-Star team for the first time since sending Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to the game.

Pictures of Kobe Bryant working out with the Celtics during pre-draft camps surface. Everybody has become so accustomed to seeing Bryant wear the Lakers’ signature purple and gold that the thought of him in another uniform seems somewhat preposterous, especially when that uniform belongs to the Lakers’ most bitter rivals.

The Lakers celebrated two anniversaries over the past week. The first came on Feb. 1, which marked the four year anniversary of the Pau Gasol trade. The following day, Feb. 2, marked the three year anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s impressive 61-point outburst at Madison Square Garden.

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Lakers Nation TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8x8VyFL_Ys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAIwFQKLD_Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1kLkI65oGM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZo4fXdKiY

Los Angeles Lakers (14-9) at Utah Jazz (12-9)
6:00 PM PST, February 4, 2012
Energy Solutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
TV: KCAL, NBALP
Radio: 710 ESPN (English)/ 1330 ESPN (Spanish)

Jazz Projected Starting Line-Up:
PG: Devin Harris
SG: Gordon Hayward
SF: Josh Howard
PF: Paul Millsap
C: Al Jefferson

Key Reserves: G C.J. Miles, F Derrick Favors, C Enes Kanter

Jazz Injury Report: G Raja Bell listed as day-to-day (strained right adductor)

Lakers Injury Report: G Steve Blake will not play (sternum)

The Lakers continue their Grammy road trip by facing the Utah Jazz for the third time this season. The Lakers won the first two match ups against the Jazz, the first by 25 points, the second by three points in a thrilling overtime game. Kobe Bryant seems to consistently have big games against the Jazz when playing at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, as Bryant is averaging 33 points against the Jazz this season.

Frontcourt: The Jazz frontcourt led by Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap has much improved since the beginning of the season. Al Jefferson is averaging a team leading 19 points and nine rebounds per game. The Bynum and Jefferson matchup should be interesting to watch as Bynum needs to use his body and strength to get down low on the offensive end and force Jefferson away from the bucket on the defensive end. Paul Millsap has come a long way since starting the season as a reserve. Millsap is averaging 17 points and nine rebounds per game. Josh Howard seems to be still trying to find his place with the Jazz, especially in the starting lineup. Howard is averaging nine points and three rebounds per game. Reserve forward Derrick Favors and center Enes Kanter are each contributing well off the bench, adding an average of 15 points and seven boards combined this season.

Backcourt: Devin Harris has had to play through rumors that the Jazz front office is shopping around the point guard. Harris is still struggling with his role of being a “true point guard” as he is averaging nine points and five assists per game. If Andrew Goudelock plays like he has been during the past two weeks, he should have no problem winning the battle with backup point guard Earl Watson. Gordon Hayward is proving to be a potential star of the Jazz, averaging 10 points per game on 40 percent shooting. However, he is responsible for guarding Kobe Bryant and will have Kobe on him, which will be overwhelming for the 21 year-old Hayward.

Keys to Lakers’ Victory:

Contain Paul Millsap: During the previous two games against the Jazz this season, the Lakers have done a solid job in containing the Jazz’s offense. However, in both games their leading score was Paul Millsap. In the December game, Millsap recorded 18 points and 8 rebounds coming off the bench. As a starter in January, he scored 29 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Pau Gasol needs to take an aggressive approach in guarding Millsap tonight and force him to give up the ball or shoot difficult jumpers. Gasol and Bynum need to clean up the boards and keep Millsap off the offensive glass.

Offensive Balance: Consistency is a recurring theme for the Lakers this year. As mentioned above, Kobe has a tendency to have big games against the Jazz, especially in Utah. However, the rest of the team needs to step up and contribute to the offense. Rookie surprise Andrew Goudelock is averaging 12 points per game and the Lakers are 4-1 when he plays 15 or more minutes per game. The Lakers’ bench had their best game of the season this week against Charlotte, scoring 44 points, because they executed effective ball movement, especially around the perimeter, until they found the open shot or the best opportunity.

Score Over 100, Keep Them Under 100: Scoring over 100 points per game used to be a regular occurrence for the Lakers during the past several seasons. This year is a quite different situation. With the Lakers struggling on the offensive end and with Mike Brown turning the team’s focus to defense, scoring over 100 is infrequent. However, it is important to note that the Lakers are 3-0 in games when they have scored over 100. What’s even more important is that the Utah Jazz are 1-6 when they give up 100 or more points to their opponents. Achieving this will be key for the Lakers to leave Utah with a victory.

The Lakers stated their season long, six-game road trip in Denver on Friday night against the Nuggets. The Lakers played well and were able to secure the 93-89 victory.

The Lakers opened up their six game road trip in the Mile High city versus the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, starting their longest away run of the season. The Nuggets had just returned from Los Angeles the night before after routing the Clippers 112-91, and were looking to come out on top of both of L.A.’s squads within two nights.

The Lakers had just come out of a routing of their own on Tuesday, dominating the holders of the worst record in the league Charlotte Bobcats 106-73. While Los Angeles entered the game holding a horrible 2-7 road record this season, they were hoping to finally make a turn for the better in the first game of the 10 day Grammy road trip.

First Quarter

The Lakers opened up another game with Metta World Peace in the starting five, hoping to continue winning games with defensive control thanks to his efforts on the floor within the opening minutes of the game. Andrew Bynum came out on fire in the post, starting off the first half of the quarter with a solid nine points, including a terrific ally-oop fed by Kobe Bryant.

Ty Lawson came onto the court with something to prove as well, scoring six of the Nuggets first 10 points, shooting 3-4. The Lakers defensive rebounding continued to be a key role in their first quarters control, as they took a double digit lead early with the help of maintaining ball possession and playing good defense.

Al Harrington then came off the bench with a spark the Nuggets had been lacking in the first seven minutes, getting back to back driving layups to force Mike Brown to call his first full time out of the game. Kobe Bryant continued being double teamed defensively by the Nuggets, allowing him to excel with four quick assists, helping every player on the Lakers starting five get baskets in the first quarter.

It wasn’t enough to stop the force that the Nuggets had built up, as they went on a 9-0 run within the final three minutes of the quarter. The Lakers still ended the quarter up by a field goal, 23-21.

Second Quarter

The Lakers started the second quarter with Kapono, Goudelock, Murphy and Barnes on the floor, leaving hot shooting Bynum on the floor to help them retake the lead. While they opened up with weak shooting, a Kapono jump shot got the ball moving for the bench, with Goudelock following up with back to back jumpers of his own.

The Nuggets then initiated full court pressure defense, forcing the Lakers bench to make smarter passes and take some quicker shots, helping Denver regain control on the game. The combination of Andre Miller and Al Harrington off the bench, shooting a combined 7-11 within the first 17 minutes of the game was enough to force Mike Brown to put the starters back on the floor half way through the second. Goudelock remained on the court for the Lakers when the other pieces of the bench took a seat, sparking interest with a lot of the fans wondering if this rookie could possibly fill the void that Derek Fishers age has created recently.

The Lakers poor shooting in the closing half of the quarter allowed the Nuggets to continue nipping at their heels, with Kobe not looking as threatening as he did against the Bobcats in their last game. Andrew Bynum then reminded everyone why he was voted as an All Star this season, with a spectacular defensive block on one end of the court followed by another ally-oop from Kobe Bryant to take a three point lead.

Los Angeles began giving up too many fouls as they headed into half time, committing three shooting fouls within the final two minutes of the quarter. Kobe’s frustration continued to get the best of him, as he shot a mere 0-6 in the second. Mike Brown looked like he had a lot to discuss in the locker room, but the Lakers still finished the half on top, 44-41.

Third Quarter

The Lakers entered the second half hoping to continue dominating in rebounding and feeding the ball to Bynum, who had a total of 15 points in the first half. The Nuggets were looking for more from Gallinari and Nene in the post, as the defensive game from Bynum and Gasol combined completely shut them out in any attempts they had previously made.

The Nuggets came out to play earlier than the Lakers expected, with them taking their first lead of the game off of a Gallinari three pointer. A loss of focus forced Derek Fisher to give away back to back turnovers, which the Nuggets were thankfully unable to capitalize on. Kobe Bryant hit his first basket out of nine attempts, allowing the Lakers to regain a one point lead which they had been missing for most of the quarter. Pau Gasol followed right back with another two points, answered with another by Derek Fisher. Kobe then looked like he had his game back, adding a few more assists to his stats and having no problem driving into the paint to draw fouls and send himself to the line.

Denver continued fighting back, with Nene finally making a positive appearance to the game hitting consecutive baskets before heading back to the bench. Increased tension being fed by disagreements with foul calls and missing field goals led to some pushing and shoving in the paint on both sides of the court, proving that the final quarter of the game will definitely be a make or break for the Lakers.

Goudelock continued to shine off of the bench, hitting an automatic deep three as soon as he stepped on the court for Derek Fisher. The speed of play the youngster brings down the court each time he has the ball fueled a flame for the Lakers in the closing minutes, making Kobe Bryant speed his own game up, as he ended the quarter scoring ten for himself. Although a three pointer from Pau Gasol at the buzzer was called off by the refs, the Lakers still entered the final quarter of the game on top of the Nuggets, 72-68.

Fourth Quarter

With Pau Gasol sporting a double double and Kobe Bryant finally looking like he found his rhythm, Los Angeles were looking to continue building off of the positives they discovered in the third and finish the Nuggets off in the Mile High City. The Nuggets were still not finding the leadership they wanted from Gallinari and Nene, and their first basket from Rudy Fernandez proved that he would be Denver’s go to guy in the fourth.

Andrew Bynum’s efforts in the fourth were going to be a key part in weather the Lakers left Denver with a win or not. Both teams continued to do the work to send themselves to the free throw line, but were unable to drain both of the baskets to regain a strong lead. Kobe Bryant began playing the way he is capable of, at one point creating space against Gallinari to drain a three, igniting resounding boo’s from around the stadium as the Lakers pushed themselves to an eight point lead.

The Nuggets woke up once again, with Harrington getting himself all the way up to 24 points. It looked like the Nuggets may be taking this game over. An outside three by Metta World Peace brought flashbacks to Game 7 of the 2010 Finals against the Celtics, and gave the Lakers a minor lead to keep their hopes alive. Another clutch three by Derek Fisher gave the Lakers a four point lead with just over a minute remaining in the game.

A few scrambles for the ball in the closing minute continued making the game more and more tense, and the ball ended up in Denver’s hands. They capitalized on a great play call as Nene finished a strong dunk, putting the ball back in L.A.’s hands with only 28 seconds to go. A questionable defensive play by Nene on Bynum while he went up to the basket helped put the ball back in Denver’s hands with 11 seconds on the clock. After a missed three and Barnes being sent to the line, he hit both free throws to seal the game 93-89.

The Lakers continue their road trip Saturday night in Utah, being hosted by the 12-9 Jazz.

After being named to his 14th straight All-Star Game, Kobe Bryant followed it up by being named the Western Conference Player of the Month for, yes, the 14th time in his career.

In his 16th season, the Black Mamba is leading the league with a 30.0 points per game average along with 6.1 rebounds and 5.5. assists.

This has definitely been a great start to the season for Kobe’s personal records as he became the oldest player to ever score 40 points or more in a game, broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s franchise record in field goals made, broke Jerry West’s record for free throws made and then topped it off by becoming the youngest player in NBA history to score 28,000 points.

Coming up next is taking over Shaquille O’Neal on the  NBA All-time scoring list.

According to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.com, Dwight Howard and his representatives have informed the Los Angeles Lakers that Howard will not sign a long-term deal with the Lakers if they are able to trade for him. It’s always been rumored that it was more the public perception that Dwight Howard was always going to follow the lead of Shaquille O’Neal and head to LA.

It could be that Shaq has beaten that idea out of Dwight’s head during his tenure as the new TNT analyst. There have been numerous times that Shaq has called Andrew Bynum the best “true center” in basketball. Last night, Shaq even went as far as passing his superman cape to Blake Griffin after that monster dunk on Kendrick Perkins. Shaq believes it was his right to pass along the cape to who he thought was worthy.

Being that Dwight has been using that superman schtick for a while now, that could have been the final straw that broke the Lakers back in their attempts at landing the all-NBA center.

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It is now believed that Dwight will force his way to the New Jersey Nets where he will team up with Deron Williams to form yet another power team in the eastern conference.

Of course, we all know that Dwight Howard has been changing his mind more times than a girl picking a dress for the prom, but this time, it might just be for real.

Update from Mr. Kennedy

Source close to Dwight Howard on why he’s leaning away from the Los Angeles Lakers: “Kobe messed it up. That’s all I can say for now.”

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 4, 2012

Update from Ken Berger of CBS

Despite assertions to the contrary, the Lakers remain firmly on Howard’s list of three teams he’s asked to be traded to, along with the Nets and Mavericks, multiple people familiar with the situation said.

There have been plenty of rumors surrounding the Lakers recently, one of which involves former Denver Nuggets guard JR Smith, who is currently playing in China. Smith signed with a Chinese team during the NBA lockout last summer, and is waiting for the Chinese season to begin before he can come back to the NBA.

There has been speculation that the Lakers might be interested in Smith, who has been a decent outside shooter during his career – which is an area where the 2012 Lakers are struggling.

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Adding gasoline to the fire was Smith himself when he took to Twitter, asking how many seats are inside the Staples Center. However, before you get too anxious, Laker fans, he also asked how many seats Madison Square Garden holds as well.

How many people does staples seat?

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) February 3, 2012

Lakers Nation asked its fans on Facebook  if they believe Pau Gasol deserves a spot on the 2012 Western Conference All-Star team and there was an overwhelming ‘yes.’

However, Gasol has some competition this year in the West and there is a good chance that he may not end up on the team. This season, Gasol has been averaging 16.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, which are down about two points and one rebound from last season.

On top of that, there are three forwards who many believe will get tickets to Orlando. Kevin Love is having another amazing season and his 25.3 ppg and 13.6 rpg will surely make him an All-Star. There is also LaMarcus Aldridge from the Portland Trailblazers (22.8 ppg and 8.7 rpg) and Rudy Gay from the Grizzlies (18.0 ppg and 6.5 rpg) who will likely beat out Gasol for the nod.