February 11th, 2010 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
The Los Angeles Lakers these days have found ways to win without Kobe Bryant in their lineup; it just so happened that they would be without the services of Andrew Bynum during their game against the Utah Jazz Wednesday at Energy Solutions Arena.
Bryant has missed three games with a sore left ankle while Bynum sat with a bruised right hip, but the Lakers did just fine without them.
Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Jordan Farmar from off the bench took up the slack as Los Angeles led for all but 41 seconds of the game, easily taking care of Utah 96-81.
The Lakers were in control from late in the first quarter; after the Jazz cut their lead to one, Los Angeles would score the next 12 points and end the period on a Jordan Farmar 3-pointer just before the horn, giving them a 31-18 lead entering the second quarter. The Lakers would lead by 19 after three quarters and increase their advantage to 20 before the fourth quarter.
Utah would tighten up a bit defensively and put together a 10-2 run to edge closer, but a Farmar basket started a Lakers 9-2 run that basically iced the game.
Odom led the Lakers with 25 points, 11 rebounds, an assist, 3 steals and 2 blocks while Gasol chipped in 22 with 19 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and 5 blocks; Farmar came off the bench to score 18 (including 4 treys) with a rebound and an assist.
Andrei Kirilenko led the Jazz with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks while Wesley Matthews came off the bench and scored 13 with an assist and a steal; Carlos Boozer notched a double-double, pouring in 11 with 10 rebounds, an assist and a block.
Los Angeles (41-13) and Utah (32-19) each go into the All-Star break, with the Lakers playing again next Tuesday when they host the Golden State Warriors while the Jazz travels to Houston to take on the Rockets – also next Tuesday night.
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