Pacers head to Salt Lake to face Jazz

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Indiana Pacers will try to get a win on their current western road trip when they visit EnergySolutions Arena Monday night to face the Utah Jazz.

The Pacers should probably focus on winning Monday considering they visit Oracle Arena Wednesday night to face the league-best Golden State Warriors, who are an NBA-best 13-1 at home.

Indiana had a two-game winning streak snapped on Sunday with an 88-87 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the start of this western sojourn.

Kobe Bryant's go-ahead bucket with 12.4 seconds remaining lifted the Lakers to the victory. Bryant, who scored LA's final nine points, spun into the paint and nailed his one-handed push shot to put the Lakers in front. Roy Hibbert hit the top of the backboard on his desperation heave at the buzzer from the top of the key at the other end.

Hibbert posted 12 points and 11 boards, C.J. Miles netted 19 points off the bench and Donald Sloan tallied 16 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for Indiana.

"I thought we had opportunities in the third quarter to separate from them," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. "We failed to do so, let them hang around. And great players made great plays."

Indiana had won three of four on the road on the heels of an eight-game slide away from home.

George Hill and C.J. Watson both missed the Lakers' loss.

The Jazz have won seven of their last 10, including two of three at home.

On Saturday, the Jazz prevailed on the road with a 101-89 decision over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Trey Burke scored a season-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting to help the Jazz. Burke added six assists and six rebounds for the Jazz, winners of two of their last three.

Rudy Gobert set career highs with 13 points and six blocks and added 11 boards for Utah. Trevor Booker scored eight points with 15 boards.

Thanks to Gobert and Booker, the Jazz had no problem making up for the loss of center Enes Kanter, who went down with a sprained ankle in Utah's loss to Atlanta on Friday. Utah held a 47-37 rebounding edge and outscored Minnesota 46-36 in the paint.

"Our guys collectively played pretty good defense," said Jazz coach Quin Snyder. "As a group, we wanted to be solid, and that's what our guys were. They were solid."

The Pacers beat the Jazz in Indianapolis on Nov. 10 and have won three in a row in this series. Indiana's win in Salt Lake City last season snapped a six- game losing streak in Utah.