Utah Jazz Team Report - March 29

(Basketball News) - The Jazz couldn’t stay with the red hot Los Angeles Lakers and former teammate Karl Malone, as they fell 91-84 at the Staples Center Sunday.

Malone lit the Jazz up for 19 points, while grabbing 13 rebounds in the contest. The perennial All-Star faced his former team for the first time after spending the first 18 years of his illustrious career in Utah.

The 40-year-old Malone, who signed as a free agent in Los Angeles this past summer, missed the Lakers’ first three games against Utah this season. He sat out the first meeting because of a suspension and missed the next two contests because of a right knee injury that caused him to be sidelined for 41 games this year.

Raja Bell had 26 points and Raul Lopez scored 12 for the Jazz, who lost for only the second time in their last six games. Utah slipped into a tie with Portland for the eighth seed in the West.

Andrei Kirilenko had a solid day on the boards with a team-high 12 rebounds, but he managed just 2-of-12 from the field en route to just seven points.

Utah made just 16-of-24 from the charity stripe (67 percent). For the game, the Jazz hit just 41.3 percent from the field, including 50 percent (6-of-12) from three-point range.

The Jazz have lost seven consecutive road tilts against the Lakers.

Utah has a couple of days off before attempting to the right the ship against the New Orleans Hornets at the Delta Center. On the season, the Jazz are 25-11 in their friendly confines.