THE Utah Jazz welcomed Kobe Bryant to Vivint Smart Home Arena for his final game in Salt Lake City on Monday with what have now become the customary trappings of the Los Angeles Lakers legend’s farewell tour: locally appropriate gifts and a tastefully produced tribute video.

    After tipoff, though, they set about sending the Black Mamba packing with another, far less friendly parting gift.

    The Jazz absolutely destroyed the Lakers on Monday, blowing Los Angeles out by a score of 123-75. The 48-point final margin ties the largest victory in Jazz franchise history, matching a 144-96 pummeling of the Milwaukee Bucks in 1990. It also ties the largest loss in the history of the Lakers organization, a low-water mark set just over two years ago in a 142-94 shellacking at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers.

    Bryant missed that Clippers debacle due to injury. Before Monday, the biggest regular-season Laker loss in which Kobe had played came in March of 2007, a 36-point defeat to the Dallas Mavericks; the biggest overall came in Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals, which the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics by 39. That means Monday night was the most lopsided loss Bryant has ever suffered in purple and gold ... and he scored five points on 1-for-11 shooting in 28 minutes in the process.

    After picking off a Derrick Favors pass, Jordan Clarkson gave the Lakers a 2-0 lead with a layup at the 11:07 mark; the Jazz went on to score the next 17 points, leading by double figures for the final 43 minutes and 43 seconds of game time. This was a competitive game for maybe two minutes.

    Utah swingman Rodney Hood was the tip of Quin Snyder’s spear. The Duke product feasted on the Lakers’ woeful defense, canning his first five shots (four 3-pointers and a long pull-up 2) for 14 first-quarter points before really getting it going in the second. Hood scored 30 points on 11-for-13 shooting, including a scorching 8-for-9 mark from long distance, in just 20 minutes of floor time in the first half. The Lakers, as a team, managed just 34 points on 15-for-45 shooting through the first 24 minutes, as Utah headed into intermission up by 27.

    Hood wouldn’t score again; Bryant took over the assignment on the second-year wing, face-guarding him all over the floor in an attempt to prevent him from even catching the ball. Even so, the Jazz kept getting absolutely everything they wanted against an L.A. defense that continues to suffer from the same elementary breakdowns that plagued the Lakers early on in the season and that entered Monday dead last in the league in points allowed per possession.

    After the loss, Lakers coach Byron Scott questioned his non-Kobe players’ steel and said: “It’s a damn shame that our oldest player has to take the challenge. Nobody else wanted to step up.”(SD-Agencies)