Lakers vs. Jazz Final Score: Bizarro Lakers comeback falls short in 107-101 loss

The Los Angeles Lakers’ return home from their four-game road trip was crashed by the Utah Jazz in a 107-101 loss. The Jazz led by as many as 19 points, but a fourth-quarter push by the Lakers brought it down to a one-possession game in the final minutes. Rodney Hood hit back-breaking shots down the stretch, giving the Jazz just enough groove to fend off the Lakers.

The injury-ravaged roster led to head coach Luke Walton going with an obscure lineup featuring Brandon Ingram at point guard, Metta World Peace, Luol Deng, Julius Randle and Timofey Mozgov. It went as poorly as it looks on paper, but the team once again showed tremendous fight instead of wilting under a large deficit.

The Jazz took control of the game when they went on a huge run coming out of halftime, looking to put the Lakers away early. Lou Williams would have none of it, though, scoring 22 points in the second half on his way to a game-high 38 points. Sweet Lou’s scoring couldn’t outpace the Jazz, who had all of their starters in double digits.

It was a weird game that was way closer than it felt it should be, featuring a starting lineup Walton may want to erase from the think tank. Ingram wasn’t prepared to handle the ball full time, World Peace ended the night as a -26 and their execution on both ends was non-existent. The backcourt injuries are presenting serious issues, and the decision to rest Larry Nance, Jr. further exacerbated to the problem. Walton went out of the box with his starting lineup, which in itself is a good thing. Unfortunately the results were not.

Add Tarik Black to the list of dinged up Lakers, too. He went down with a sprained ankle in the third quarter, but initial X-rays came back negative, according to Shahan Ahmed of NBC Los Angeles.

The Lakers are now on their second three-game losing streak of the season with a dance with James Harden in Houston lined up on Wednesday. D’Angelo Russell’s knee will be evaluated on Tuesday, but it’s unclear whether reinforcements are on the way to a squad that could use their leading point guard.

Until then, at least we got this gem: