Jazz 99, Lakers 90

The Lakers have plenty to work on after a disjointed, error-riddled 99-90 loss to the Jazz in their exhibition opener. The team committed 24 turnovers and allowed the Jazz to shoot 48.1 percent. 
The two players who drew the most criticism from Lakers fill-in coach Kurt Rambis were Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum, both of whom had up-and-down performances. 
The 6-foot-10 Odom didn't exactly thrive in his debut bringing the ball up the court for the Lakers, scoring three points, dishing out only three assists and struggling defensively against smaller quicker Utah wings. Rambis summed up Odom's performance as "fair to middling, maybe poor," suggesting that the veteran forward struggled guarding quicker Jazz wings off the dribble and "didn't seem focused out there."
Bynum came off the bench to score 15 points and grab 8 rebounds in 24 minutes, but Rambis was not impressed with Bynum's defense.  "It was basically what he showed...read full article

Lakers - Jazz Running Diary

Pregame Chatter:
Before we tip off, let’s begin our Lakers-Jazz running diary with the most important NBA question one could ask: “Who’s winning the title this season?”

And no, I’m not just asking myself, because my content wingman Ty Nowell - call him Ty, Tymon, Tyson or C-Wing - is sitting next to me just a row up from center court in between the benches. Anyway … Ty, who will it be?

“Did you see Sun Yue’s suit??? Look how shiny it is!”

He’s not wrong, but let’s get focused.

“The Lakers,” came his answer, implying that I’d be silly to think otherwise. Having just arrived from Minnesota, I’m waiting a week to watch the team in action before making that claim. However, I will say that the Spurs and Rockets scare me the most in terms of challenging the defending Western...read full article

It's (almost) all good for Lakers' Andrew Bynum

Center has 15 points, eight rebounds and a few mistakes in Lakers' exhibition opener, his first game since suffering a knee injury in January. L.A. loses to Utah, 99-90.

The theme from "Welcome Back, Kotter" came over the loudspeaker and a strong ovation followed.

Andrew Bynum was back.

It was only an exhibition, a 99-90 Lakers loss to Utah, but Bynum had more good moments than bad in a 15-point, eight-rebound effort Tuesday at the Honda Center.

In his first game since sustaining a knee injury in January, Bynum backed down Mehmet Okur for an easy turnaround, dunked off a feed from Derek Fisher and pinned Paul Millsap down low on the way to converting a three-point play.

On the other hand, two of his shots were blocked and he had four turnovers in 24 minutes.

"He's shown some really good things out there and then he's shown some things that he definitely needs to improve upon," said assistant coach Kurt Rambis. "We keep impressing upon him that he's got to do a much better job of running...read full article