SALT LAKE CITY — Needing wins in the most desperate way, fighting an uphill schedule and a ticking clock, normally Frank Vogel would’ve found comfort in the recipe he and the Los Angeles Lakers had employed.
Twice, in some of their best basketball of the season, the Lakers have used one of basketball’s best weapons — LeBron James — to play Utah center Rudy Gobert off the court.
But with a heavily oiled grip on 10th place in the West, Vogel felt none of that comfort before Thursday’s game with the Jazz, James not even in the same state as the Lakers as he worked to recover from his sprained ankle.