\t <\/p>\n
\tWhen the Los Angeles Lakers<\/span> came to Salt Lake City Wednesday night, the Jazz were looking at their first big challenge of the season. Kobe Bryant dropped 40 points as the Jazz watched their four-point overtime lead slip away in the final seconds.<\/p>\n \tThe Jazz didn’t pick up a win, but for Jazz head coach Ty Corbin, the 90-87 overtime defeat wasn’t a loss.<\/span><\/p>\n \t“We played against a good team tonight, and they were a little bit better than we were,” Corbin said. “Our effort was great, man. The guys did a great job of hanging in there. I was proud of my guys.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \tForward Paul Millsap<\/span> had a season-high 29 points for the Jazz and pulled down eight rebounds. Utah forward Josh Howard had 18 points off the bench to continue his recent success.<\/span><\/p>\n \tThe Jazz were down by five with two-and-a-half minutes left to play, but Howard went to work hitting two free throws and a 3-pointer to tie up the game at 76. Bryant hit a long 2-pointer with 39 seconds left, and Millsap<\/span> answered on the Jazz’s next possession, tipping the ball in the basket to push the game into overtime.<\/span><\/p>\n \tWith 59 seconds left in the extra period, Howard hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Jazz a four-point lead at 85-81. A 7-0 run sparked by five-straight points from forward\/center Pau<\/span> Gasol<\/span>, including a rare 3-pointer put the Lakers<\/span> back on top by three.<\/span><\/p>\n \t“They made shots, they came down and Pau<\/span> made the three in the corner,” Corbin said. “Kobe made a big shot. They made shots and we missed a couple.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \tMillsap<\/span> hit a jump shot and a Bryant miss gave the Jazz the ball back with 16 seconds left to play.<\/span><\/p>\n \tThe Jazz got the ball to center Al Jefferson under the basket but Jefferson was stuffed by L.A.’s<\/span> Andrew Bynum<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n \t“Gordon made a good drive. I thought Al got a good shot at the basket there,” Corbin said.<\/span><\/p>\n \tThe Jazz had plenty of opportunities to take the lead, especially from the free-throw line. They missed five points in overtime.<\/span><\/p>\n \t“Look at the end of the game. We didn’t get a lot of free throws, but we missed five,” Corbin said. “It’s in overtime and every basket counts.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \tJazz guard Raja Bell agreed with his coach.<\/span><\/p>\n \t“Things like that always hurt, but that’s part of the game,” Bell said. “If we don’t shoot them well that night, then we’ve got to compensate somewhere else.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \tBell did his best to compensate going up against Bryant on defense. The battle between the two continued in the locker room.<\/span><\/p>\n \t“If he’s got to take 31 shots to get 40 points then that’s all you can do,” Bell said. “Anyone taking 31 shots should score 40.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \t <\/p>\n \t– meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MEREDITH KINNEY When the Los Angeles Lakers came to Salt Lake City Wednesday night, the Jazz were looking at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bball","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n