Jazz cut short Lakers winning streak while Nets rout the Wizards

(Basketball news) The Utah Jazz cut short the two match winning streak of the Los Angeles Lakers as they beat them 130-116. For the Jazz, Lauri Markkanen had 27 points and 12 rebounds, Jordan Clarkson added 20 points while Kelly Olynyk had 18 points and Mike Conley added 15 points and 10 assists. For the Lakers, Russell Westbrook had 26 points and six assists in another strong performance in a reserve role as LeBron James had 17 points and 11 rebounds while still recovering from an illness and dealing with pain in his left foot. Anthony Davis scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half as the Lakers' solid defensive start to the season came crashing down against the poised, polished Jazz. The Utah Jazz continued their remarkable start to the season as tey are off to a 7-3 start to a year in which they were widely expected to struggle.

''Again, it's a night where we had a lot of different guys contribute at a lot of different times in the game,'' first-year Jazz coach Will Hardy said. ''It's just another testament to the group, and to doing it as a group.''

''We took a huge step backward tonight,'' Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of the defensive performance. ''It's the first game where I felt like we really weren't there defensively.''

“Every night, we're getting more familiar with each other as a group, and they're getting more familiar with me,'' Hardy said. ''We threw some different things out there tonight, and our guys executed it.''

''There's 60,000 points in our locker room, so I'm not worried about our offense,'' Ham said. ''Our defensive effort has to be there. Our defense was inept at best.''

''They just started off playing a lot faster than us,'' Westbrook said. ''(We were a) step slow, and it showed. We tried to pick it up in the second half, but we put ourselves in a bad position early.''

The Brooklyn Nets swept past the Washington Wizards 128-86. For the Nets, Kevin Durant had 28 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds while Nic Claxton added 18 points, Cam Thomas scored 17 points and Yuta Watanabe added 14  as they were without the injured Ben Simmons and Seth Curry. For the Wizards, Bradley Beal led Washington with 20 points. Kyle Kuzma scored 19 and Kristaps Porzingis had 14 points and 10 rebounds. With this result the Nets improved their record to 3 wins 6 losses.

''Let's put the joy back in basketball,'' Nets owner Joe Tsai said in a postgame tweet.

''You just have to focus on the game, keep your mind on the game plan and discipline to come out and execute and get the win,'' Brooklyn's Royce O'Neale said.

''Kevin was a hub for us tonight – really put them in tough binds,'' Nets interim coach Jacque Vaughn said. ''He was a willing passer and he capitalized when he had the opportunities to.''

Also read: Warriors again lose on road while Nuggets breeze past OKC
 

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