Lakers 113, Jazz 100
It got a little snug there towards the end as Utah cut the Lakers 15-point fourth-quarter lead to 97-93 with just 2:58 remaining, but Trevor Ariza made several key steals down the stretch to spark a 16-7 closing run for the Lakers, who extended their current winning streak to five games.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 40 points, one off of his season-high set two weeks ago in Orlando, and Pau Gasol added 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Mehmet Okur led the Jazz with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Paul Millsap had 16 points and 17 rebounds in his first game back since missing three games with a knee injury.
With his last two points in the game Gasol passed the 10,000-point mark for his career, making him the fourth European player in NBA history to achieve that status.
Already this season, the Lakers (26-5) have had two seven-game winning streaks, one five-game streak (current), one four-game streak and one three-game streak.
With their win against Utah, the Lakers have improved their performance against quality opponents. They now have 12 wins (5 on the road) against teams with winning records.
The Celtics have 7 home wins and 3 on the road against winning teams while the Cavs have only 5 home and 2 road wins against quality opponents.
Without a doubt, the the Lakers squad is currently the best team in the NBA!
Details on this on:
http://lalakersnews.blogspot.com/2009/01/lakers-are-now-best-in-nba.html