SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Rodney Hood scored 30 points and the Jazz turned Kobe Bryant’s last visit to Utah into the worst loss of his career with a 123-75 victory on Monday night that matched the Lakers’ largest defeat in franchise history.
The Jazz had their biggest offensive night of the season and remained in the No. 7 slot in the Western Conference playoff race, one game ahead of the Houston Rockets.
The 48-point defeat matched the margin in the Lakers’ 142-94 loss to the Clippers on March 7, 2014, when Bryant was out with an injury.
Hood and the Jazz put the game away early in the first quarter with a 17-2 start. The second-year guard was 5 for 5 from the field for 14 first-quarter points. He had 30 at halftime, including eight 3-pointers, and didn’t score a single basket in the second half to miss his career-high by two points.