Bailey scored 40 points. The real story, though, was that LA Lakers were able to come away with the 109-88 upset of Utah, despite being dominated throughout the game. A frustrated Utah coach Coach Young was interviewed after the game. "I kept thinking that we'd be able to come back and pull out the win. I mean we did everything right and controlled the flow of the game, but ended up just short countless times. Even as things wound down I was confident because we were so dominant out there. But eventually I saw that the better team wasn't going to get the win today."

LA Lakers coach Andreas Helmle agreed. "I've been on the other end of this plenty of times, too. It's frustrating to watch when you've clearly got the better team out there but can't get the win. As for today, we'll consider ourselves lucky and be more than happy to get the win."

LA Lakers was led by Bailey (40 points, 15 boards, 0 assists, 2 blocks), Carter (23 points, 12 boards, 1 assists, 5 blocks), Snow (18 points, a block). Utah was led by Schab (13 points, 10 boards, 1 assists, a block), Fripp (18 points, 2 assists, 2 blocks), Jackson (12 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, a steal).

With the victory, LA Lakers improve to 20-27 and 13-10 at home. They hold at #4 in the Pacific and hold at #11 overall in the Western Conference. Utah are now 21-23. They remain at #3 in the Northwest and hold at #9 overall in the Western Conference.

box score LA Lakers* roster Utah* roster