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Jazz beat Lakers 99-94 with Hayward's 26 points

Oct 18, 2010 - 6:22 AM LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Rookie Gordon Hayward scored 26 points and the Utah Jazz shrugged off a 19-point third quarter by Kobe Bryant to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 99-94 on Sunday night and run their preseason record to 6-0 for the first time in the franchise's 35-year history.

"A game like tonight just gives you a little confidence," Hayward said. "It's a learning process, and I have a lot to learn from this game. I'm already thinking about what I could have done and what I should have done. It was fun out there tonight. I just wanted to go out there and play hard, don't think about it and let my instincts take over."

Hayward, the ninth overall pick in the draft after helping lead Butler to the NCAA championship game against Duke, shot 8 for 10 from the field and converted 10 of 11 free throws in his 33 minutes on the floor.

"He just played basketball," coach Jerry Sloan said. "They got after him pretty good early on and took him to the basket a couple of times, but he fought back. That's a good sign for a young player - fight back and continue to play. That's what he does. He's not going to go out there and beat you trying to get 30 points a night. He plays within the game."

Bryant, coming off arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, played only 20 minutes and sat out the fourth. Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 28 points, 13 of them in the final 6:33 while the sellout crowd kept chanting Bryant's name in vain.

"I'm surprised they were chanting my name. I mean, come on. It's the preseason," said Bryant, who played 9 scoreless minutes in the first half. "I'm sure they'd much rather see me in June than right now. But I still appreciate it."

The two-time defending NBA champs missed 13 of their first 16 shots and fell behind by 14 points midway through the second quarter. Bryant came up empty on his first four shots before making an understated dunk with 9:57 left in third. He came back moments later with a 15-foot fadeaway jumper, hit a 20-footer that was nullified by a traveling call, and drained a 3-pointer 28 seconds later to put the Lakers ahead 58-56 with 7:15 left in the quarter.

"When Kobe was out there, he had a great run," Sloan said. "They really showed their defensive ability. They just came out and annihilated us. But the important thing is that we tried to keep focused on what we had to do. That's the only way we can get any better."

Bryant's surge helped fuel a 19-2 run that turned a six-point deficit into a 69-58 lead, the Lakers biggest of the game. They took a 74-73 lead into the fourth with Bryant on the bench, and the lead changed hands four times before Hayward put Utah ahead 79-78 with a 19-footer that ignited a 11-0 spurt.

The Lakers made only three of 14 shots in the final quarter, and none until their ninth attempt, when Gasol's dunk pulled the Los Angeles to 88-84 with 4:25 to play.

"All these games mean something on some level," coach Phil Jackson said. "We had a really good third quarter, but didn't protect the lead we had at the end of the third. I was relatively pleased that we hung in there and had a chance toward the end to win it - playing a couple of rookies and the team we had out there. We just didn't make shots in the fourth quarter."

NOTES: Utah reserve C Kyrylo Fesenko, who sat out Saturday's contest because of a sprained right wrist, entered the game at the start of the second quarter and picked up three fouls in a 2:32 span before he was back on the bench. The fourth-year veteran fouled out with 1:21 remaining, and has 24 fouls in 96 minutes during his five preseason games. Last season, he averaged a foul for every 5.2 minutes. ... Lakers G Sasha Vujacic was sidelined for the second straight game because of a concussion, which occurred at Thursday's practice when he got elbowed just below his left eye by Lamar Odom. F Luke Walton has yet to play in the preseason because of a right hamstring strain. ... The Nuggets, who won three of four meetings with Los Angeles in 2009-10, begin their season series Nov. 11 at Denver. The Lakers don't host the Nuggets again until April 3.