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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Utah Jazz forward Trey Lyles (41) dunks over Los Angeles Lakers center Tarik Black (28) during the second half of a pre-season NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz on Sunday
The Utah Jazz came back from a 13-point deficit to top the Los Angeles Lakers 90-71 in the teams’ first game of the 2015-16 NBA preseason today at the sold-out Stan Sheriff Center.
It was the first NBA action in Hawaii in eight years. Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant played the entire first quarter, scoring five points on 1-for-5 shooting. He was done for the night after that, despite the "Kobe!" chants from the pro-Lakers crowd.
Forward Derrick Favors led the Jazz with 16 points and nine rebounds. Guard Louis Williams led the Lakers with 14 points.
It was a defensive battle most of the way. Nick Young swished a 3 to beat the halftime buzzer and the Lakers led 38-33 at the break. The Lakers extended their lead 48-35 on a three-point play by Jordan Clarkson early in the third quarter.
But the Jazz put together a strong period behind center Rudy Gobert and backup point guard Raul Neto, nearly pulling even by the end of the third.
The Jazz went on a 9-0 run to open the fourth quarter and their reserves maintained the lead.
"We saw (success) late and we started competing on defense," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.
Lakers coach Byron Scott expressed disappointment with his team’s outing after a week of training camp which included plenty of sprints.
"From what I saw we’ve got to do a lot more running," Scott said. "I thought (the Jazz) looked like they were in better shape than we were."
The teams rematch at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
