Lakers 106 - 95 Jazz
Final
  for this game

Lakers look to take over first in the West

Mar 20, 2008 - 1:19 PM LA Lakers (46-21) at Utah (45-24) 10:30 pm EDT

SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) - The Los Angeles Lakers need to do something no team has done this year if they hope to take over the top spot in the Western Conference standings.

Tied with idle New Orleans atop of the conference, the Lakers attempt to hand the Utah Jazz their first home loss since December 29 when the clubs meet Thursday.

The Jazz, an NBA-best 29-3 at home, are looking to extend their winning streak here to 20 games.

Los Angeles snapped a two-game slide on Tuesday with a 102-100 win at Dallas. Kobe Bryant scored 29 points in the victory and Lamar Odom added 17 points and 17 boards.

The Lakers held a 25-point lead midway through the third quarter before the Mavericks rallied to within one with under a minute remaining. But Dirk Nowitzki's attempt at a game-winning 3-pointer fell short at the buzzer.

The Lakers will be shorthanded when they face the Jazz, as center Pau Gasol is expected to miss his third straight game with a sprained ankle.

Utah sits fourth in the West by virtue of its 4 1/2 game lead over the Denver Nuggets (40-28) in the Northwest Division. The Jazz are two games back of New Orleans and the Los Angeles for the the West lead.

Coming off a 96-79 win over the Toronto Raptors on Monday, Utah hopes to exploit the inside advantage they should have with Gasol out of the lineup.

All-Star Carlos Boozer, who is averaging 21.4 points and 10.6 rebounds, will have Ronny Turiaf to deal with on the inside instead of Gasol.

The Lakers have taken two of the three meetings between the teams this season.






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