Lakers’ slow start continues in loss to Jazz

NBA: Al Jefferson scored 18 points and Randy Foye added 17 on five 3-pointers to lift the Utah Jazz over the Los Angeles Lakers 95-86 on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.

Mo Williams added 16 points on 8 of 13 shooting for Utah (2-3).

Kobe Bryant entered the game shooting nearly 60 percent but started 3 of 10 and finished 7 of 17 for 29 points as the Lakers fell to 1-4.

Dwight Howard added 19 points for the Lakers and Metta World Peace had 15.

The Jazz led by as many as 16 points early, but the Lakers were within five with 8:27 left before Foye hit three straight 3-pointers to give Utah a 79-68 lead with 6:40 remaining.

Utah, coming off three straight road losses, started fast and finished strong, with free-agent acquisition Foye providing the punch off the bench offensively.

He also was part of a group of players frustrating Bryant, along with Gordon Hayward and Marvin Williams.

Bryant took only one shot in the first quarter and was 1 of 4 at halftime. Los Angeles was shooting just 25 percent at one point and just 34.3 percent at the half. The Lakers finished 25 of 74 for 33.8 percent.

• Korver, Hawks rally to beat Pacers: Kyle Korver scored eight straight points in a late 18-0 run for Atlanta and the host Hawks, who trailed by 14 points early in the fourth quarter, beat the Indiana Pacers 89-86.

Indiana led 83-69 before Atlanta started the comeback. Korver hit back-to-back 3-pointers and added another jumper, cutting the lead to 83-82.

Korver then missed another jumper but Josh Smith grabbed the rebound and passed to Jeff Teague, who hit a 3-pointer with 1:04 remaining to give Atlanta an 85-83 lead. Teague added another basket to cap the 18-0 run.

David West and George Hill each had 20 for the Pacers.

• Clippers hand Spurs first loss: DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin each had double-digit points and rebounds while leading a dunkfest in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 106-84 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs, who lost for the first time this season.

Griffin had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Jordan had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead six players who scored in double figures while helping the Clippers snap a two-game skid against the team that swept them out of the second round of the playoffs last season.

Danny Green scored 12 points and Tim Duncan added 10 for the Spurs, whose 4-0 start was the best in franchise history.

• Granger could miss three months: The Indiana Pacers announced Danny Granger’s injured left knee has been treated with an injection, and that the expected recovery process is about three months. He was diagnosed with patellar tendinosis.

• Cavs’ rookie out: Cavaliers rookie Tyler Zeller is returning to Cleveland for further evaluation after sustaining a concussion and broken cheekbone after being elbowed in the face by Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan on Monday night.

Sporting win, Houston advances

Soccer: The Houston Dynamo held off Sporting Kansas City after Seth Sinovic scored his first career goal in the second half, falling 1-0 in Kansas City, Kan., but advancing to the Eastern Conference finals with a 2-1 aggregate-goal result.

The Dynamo won the opening leg Sunday behind goals from Adam Moffat and Will Bruin, and then did enough on defense — just barely — to advance to its second straight conference title game.

The Dynamo will open the conference finals on the road against D.C. United or the New York Red Bells in another two-game, aggregate goal series scheduled to begin Sunday.

At Santa Clara, Calif., Robbie Keane scored two goals as the Galaxy eliminated the Supporter Shield-winning San Jose Earthquakes with a 3-1 victory. Los Angeles took the series 3-2 on aggregate.

• Celtic shocks Barca, United through: Barcelona lost for the first time this season in a wild night of UEFA Champions League action.

Barca had won all 14 matches in all competitions before falling 2-1 at Celtic, which is two points behind the Spanish giants with two matches remaining.

Meanwhile, United came back from a goal down to beat Braga 3-1 and qualify for the second round in a match that was stopped briefly because of a lighting outage.

Djokovic holds off Murray in London

Miscellany: Novak Djokovic got the big break when he needed it late in the third set to hold off Andy Murray 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 at the ATP finals in London.

Murray looked unbeatable at the start, breaking Djokovic in the first game and losing only three points on his serve in the first set. But Djokovic was able to convert break chances in each of the next two sets, and then for a third time at 5-5 in the final set to serve out the match.

• NHL, union talks roll on: Negotiations between the NHL and the locked-out players’ association ended after nearly six hours Wednesday. Just as they did a night earlier, the sides agreed to get right back to the bargaining table.

Representatives for the owners and players will resume talks today, marking the third straight day they will meet face-to-face.

• Nebraska-Oklahoma in talks to play: The Oklahoma-Nebraska football rivalry, once one of the great traditions in college football, is on the verge of being renewed for two seasons next decade.

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne he has an “agreement in principle” for games with the Sooners in 2021 and 2022. The first game would be played in Norman, Okla., and the second in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers and Sooners played 71 straight seasons as members of the Big Six and Big Eight. The teams moved to the Big 12 in 1996 and met twice every four years.

• NCAA accepts Texas Tech-imposed penalties: Texas Tech’s athletic director says the NCAA has accepted the school’s self-imposed penalties after former Red Raiders coach Billy Gillispie exceeded limits on practice time last fall. Kirby Hocutt said in statement that the governing body for college sports notified the school last week that it deemed them secondary violations. The NCAA does not comment on secondary violations.

• USC manager fired for deflating balls: Southern California says it has fired a student manager who intentionally deflated game footballs below NCAA-mandated pressure levels in the Trojans’ loss to Oregon last week.

USC announced the dismissal of the unnamed student manager on its website after it says it was reprimanded and fined by the Pac-12.

USC says the student manager acknowledged he deflated the balls of his own accord after they had been checked by officials.