Utah Jazz (16-14) at Los Angeles Lakers (18-10), 10:30 p.m.

ODDS: ATL vs TAM -160 OU:5.5o

(Sports Network) - The streaking Los Angeles Lakers play the second of a five- game homestand, as they host the Utah Jazz tonight at the Staples Center. This is the third of four meetings between the clubs this season. Utah is scheduled to host the Lakers on March 20, 2008 at EnergySolutions Arena. The teams split the first two contests, as both clubs picked up a win on its homecourt. Utah has lost three straight and four of its last five at the Lakers. Los Angeles enters tonight's contest on a three-game winning streak. Superstar Kobe Bryant scored 26 of his game-high 38 points in the second half, as the Lakers continued their December surge with a 122-115 win over the Phoenix Suns on Christmas Day at the Staples Center. Andrew Bynum poured in a career-high 28 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, while Lamar Odom contributed 15 points and 14 rebounds in the victory for the Lakers, who are 9-3 this month. Derek Fisher finished with 19 points and Trevor Ariza netted 14 in the win. The Lakers are 10-4 as the host this season. They will also play the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers on the current homestand. On the injury front for the Lakers, forward Luke Walton is questionable with a sprained right ankle. Walton, who has missed two straight games, is averaging 7.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 25 games this season. Utah tries to win back-to-back contests for the first time since winning three in a row from November 28 to December 3. Carlos Boozer scored 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds in Utah's 99-90 victory over the Mavericks on Wednesday at EnergySolutions Arena. Deron Williams contributed 17 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists for the Jazz, who beat Dallas for just the fourth time in the last 13 meetings. Andrei Kirilenko also had 17 points and came up with some key defensive plays, including three steals for Utah, which moved to 10-2 at home this season. The Jazz are 6-12 on the road this season. After tonight's game, they return home for a three-game stand versus Boston, Portland and Philadelphia. Eastern Atlantic W-L Pct. GB Boston 66-16 .805 --- Toronto 41-41 .500 25 Philadelphia 40-42 .488 26 New Jersey 34-48 .415 32 New York 23-59 .280 43 Central W-L Pct. GB Detroit 59-23 .720 --- Cleveland 45-37 .549 14 Indiana 36-46 .439 23 Chicago 33-49 .402 26 Milwaukee 26-56 .317 33 Southeast W-L Pct. GB Orlando 52-30 .634 --- Washington 43-39 .524 9 Atlanta 37-45 .451 15 Charlotte 32-50 .390 20 Miami 15-67 .183 37 Western Southwest W-L Pct. GB New Orleans 56-26 .683 --- San Antonio 56-26 .683 --- Houston 55-27 .671 1 Dallas 51-31 .622 5 Memphis 22-60 .268 34 Northwest W-L Pct. GB Utah 54-28 .659 --- Denver 50-32 .610 4 Portland 41-41 .500 13 Minnesota 22-60 .268 32 Seattle 20-62 .244 34 Pacific W-L Pct. GB LA Lakers 57-25 .695 --- Phoenix 55-27 .671 2 Golden State 48-34 .585 9 Sacramento 38-44 .463 19 LA Clippers 23-59 .280 34

Player Gm Min Pts FG % A Reb Stl Blk TO 3pt FT % K.Bryant 82 38.9 28.3 .459 5.4 6.3 1.8 0.5 257 150 .840 P.Gasol 27 34.0 18.8 .589 3.5 7.8 0.5 1.6 44 0 .789 L.Odom 77 37.9 14.2 .525 3.5 10.6 1.0 0.9 156 31 .698 A.Bynum 35 28.8 13.1 .636 1.7 10.2 0.3 2.1 52 0 .695 D.Fisher 82 27.4 11.7 .436 2.9 2.1 1.0 0.0 90 112 .883 J.Farmar 82 20.6 9.1 .461 2.7 2.2 0.9 0.1 108 114 .679 S.Vujacic 72 17.8 8.8 .454 1.0 2.1 0.5 0.1 52 118 .835 V.Radmanovic 65 22.8 8.4 .453 1.9 3.3 0.7 0.2 73 95 .800 L.Walton 74 23.4 7.2 .450 2.9 3.9 0.8 0.2 100 28 .706 R.Turiaf 78 18.7 6.6 .474 1.6 3.9 0.4 1.4 72 0 .753 T.Ariza 24 18.0 6.5 .524 1.5 3.5 1.1 0.3 18 5 .683 K.Brown 23 22.1 5.7 .515 1.2 5.7 0.7 0.8 37 0 .406 M.Evans 7 13.7 4.4 .321 1.7 1.3 0.7 0.1 0 1 .800 C.Mihm 23 12.1 3.6 .337 0.6 3.3 0.2 0.6 17 0 .667 J.Crittenton 22 7.7 3.3 .491 0.8 1.0 0.3 0.0 22 1 .679 D.Ilunga-Mbenga 26 7.5 2.5 .492 0.2 1.6 0.2 0.6 8 0 .400 B.Cook 6 11.7 2.3 .190 0.5 1.7 0.3 0.0 4 2 1.000 I.Newble 6 5.0 1.2 .333 0.5 1.8 0.2 0.2 3 1 .000 Player Gm Min Pts FG % A Reb Stl Blk TO 3pt FT % C.Boozer 81 34.9 21.1 .547 2.9 10.4 1.2 0.5 210 0 .738 D.Williams 82 37.3 18.8 .507 10.5 3.0 1.1 0.3 279 83 .803 M.Okur 72 33.2 14.5 .445 2.0 7.7 0.8 0.4 104 114 .804 R.Brewer 76 27.5 12.0 .558 1.8 2.9 1.7 0.3 69 11 .759 A.Kirilenko 72 30.8 11.0 .506 4.0 4.7 1.2 1.5 140 44 .770 K.Korver 75 23.1 9.9 .443 1.3 2.3 0.6 0.4 75 111 .915 M.Harpring 76 18.1 8.2 .500 1.1 3.2 0.6 0.2 95 2 .712 P.Millsap 82 20.7 8.1 .504 1.0 5.6 0.9 0.9 87 0 .677 C.Miles 60 11.5 5.0 .479 0.9 1.3 0.5 0.1 27 30 .788 R.Price 61 9.6 3.7 .431 1.3 0.8 0.5 0.0 30 26 .684 J.Hart 57 10.6 2.9 .322 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.1 28 11 .844 J.Collins 70 10.0 1.7 .439 0.5 1.7 0.1 0.1 22 0 .622 K.Fesenko 9 7.8 1.6 .375 0.2 2.8 0.0 0.3 8 0 .500 No. Player Pos Ht Wt DOB College 10 Radmanovic,V. F 6-10 235 11/19/80 Serbia & Mon. 11 Karl,Coby G 6-5 215 3/6/83 Boise State 14 Newble,Ira F 6-7 220 1/20/75 Miami-Ohio 16 Gasol,Pau C 7-0 250 7/6/80 Spain 17 Bynum,Andrew C 7-0 285 10/27/87 St. Joseph H. 18 Vujacic,Sasha G 6-7 205 3/8/84 Slovenia 2 Fisher,Derek G 6-1 210 8/9/74 Ark-Little R. 21 Turiaf,Ronny C 6-10 250 1/13/83 Gonzaga 24 Bryant,Kobe G 6-6 205 8/23/78 Lower Merion. 28 Ilunga-Mbenga,D. C 7-0 255 12/30/80 Congo 3 Ariza,Trevor F 6-8 210 6/30/85 U-C-L-A 31 Mihm,Chris C 7-0 265 7/16/79 Texas 4 Walton,Luke F 6-8 235 3/28/80 Arizona 5 Farmar,Jordan G 6-2 180 11/30/86 U-C-L-A 7 Odom,Lamar F 6-10 230 11/6/79 Rhode Island No. Player Pos Ht Wt DOB College 13 Okur,Mehmet C 6-11 263 5/26/79 Turkey 15 Harpring,Matt F 6-7 230 5/31/76 Georgia Tech 17 Price,Ronnie G 6-2 190 6/21/83 Utah Valley . 22 Almond,Morris G 6-6 225 2/2/85 Rice 24 Millsap,Paul F 6-8 258 2/10/85 Louisiana Te. 26 Korver,Kyle F 6-6 211 3/17/81 Creighton 3 Hart,Jason G 6-3 180 4/29/78 Syracuse 31 Collins,J. C 6-11 239 12/2/78 Stanford 34 Miles,C.J. F 6-6 220 3/18/87 Skyline HS 44 Fesenko,K. C 7-1 288 12/24/86 Ukraine 47 Kirilenko,A. F 6-9 223 2/18/81 Russia 5 Boozer,Carlos F 6-9 266 11/20/81 Duke 8 Williams,D. G 6-3 205 6/26/84 Illinois 9 Brewer,Ronnie G 6-7 223 3/20/85 Arkansas LA Lakers CENTERS Pau Gasol Didier Ilunga-Mbenga Chris Mihm Andrew Bynum* POWER FORWARDS Lamar Odom Ronny Turiaf SMALL FORWARDS Vladimir Radmanovic Luke Walton Ira Newble Trevor Ariza POINT GUARDS Derek Fisher Jordan Farmar SHOOTING GUARDS Kobe Bryant Sasha Vujacic Coby Karl Coach Phil Jackson Utah CENTERS Mehmet Okur Jarron Collins Kyrylo Fesenko POWER FORWARDS Carlos Boozer Paul Millsap SMALL FORWARDS Andrei Kirilenko Kyle Korver Matt Harpring C.J. Miles POINT GUARDS Deron Williams Ronnie Price Jason Hart SHOOTING GUARDS Ronnie Brewer Morris Almond Coach Jerry Sloan