The Jazz played close to a full rotation, with starters seeing fourth quarter minutes for the first time this season. It was tight, with 17 lead changes throughout. After a ghostly crowd at the Talking Stick Resort Arena the night before, a rowdy Staples Center felt like a playoff atmosphere by comparison.
And the Jazz — is this what they’ll look like? With Rudy Gobert, Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell leading the way, fans got their first look at what might be the crunch-time lineup in a 105-99 win over the Lakers. The score didn’t matter, nor did the 5-0 record the Jazz finished their preseason with, but there was a concrete sense of identity that their earlier exhibitions lacked, even while missing a starter.