Back at .500 (The Bad Way)

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Yahoo Sports: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andrei Kirilenko scored 23 points, Keith McLeod scored four of his 15 points in the final 78 seconds and the Utah Jazz took full advantage of Kobe Bryant’s suspension in a 98-94 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.

Bryant was suspended for two games without pay by the NBA after committing a flagrant foul against Mike Miller during last Wednesday’s overtime loss to Memphis. Bryant elbowed Miller in the throat as payback for an earlier foul by Miller, which left Bryant with a gash over his left eye that required three stitches.

The Lakers’ star, who exacerbated the situation with some less than contrite post-game remarks, will forfeit $289,943 in salary. Bryant won’t accompany the team to Salt Lake City for the second half of the home-and-home set with the Jazz, but will return to the lineup on Friday night to face Philadelphia and Allen Iverson — who has a slight lead over Bryant in the league scoring race.

“I wouldn’t ask him to go on the trip,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said before the game. “We want him to stay behind, work out and get an opportunity to condition himself. It makes no sense for him to go along on the trip and stay in the hotel while we play.”

Brian Cook connected on his first eight shots and finished with 19 points for the Lakers, who lost their fourth straight game after winning nine of their previous 11. The third-year forward finished 8-for-10 while playing a season-high 40 minutes.

The Lakers, also missing Slava Medvedenko, Aaron McKie and Laron Profit because of injuries, used their seventh different starting lineup due to Bryant’s absence. They were 6-10 last year without Bryant, who missed 14 games with a sprained right ankle, one with a bruised right shin, and another for personal reasons.

Both teams shot an identical 29-for-58 through three quarters, with Utah lead 76-73. Devin Brown’s 3-pointer with 5:16 left in the second quarter capped a 12-4 spurt that gave the Jazz a 42-32 lead, their biggest of the game, and Utah never trailed after that.

The Lakers tied the score twice in the fourth quarter — the second time on a layup by Lamar Odom, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds. But McLeod regained the lead for Utah with a layup, Luke Walton turned the ball over to Jarron Collins at the other end, and McLeod’s two free throws clinched it with 22 seconds to go.

Utah’s victory, coupled with Minnesota’s loss at Miami, put the Jazz within one-half game of the Timberwolves for the Northwest Division lead despite their 15-16 record.

The Lakers complete the home-and-home series with Utah on Tuesday, hoping to get above the .500 mark again. Tip off is at 6:00 PM, and as always, a thread will be set up for our live Gameday coverage in our ClubLakers.com Forums!

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