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Los Angeles • Raja Bell almost became a Laker. But the respected veteran guard returned to Utah last summer because Salt Lake City felt right. Since then, Bell's positive feelings have only continued to blossom for the Jazz, who defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 99-94 Sunday night in a preseason contest at Staples Center.

With the victory, Utah won the two-day, four-team Lakers Shootout.

Bell scored seven points in the win. But the 11-year player did not rejoin the Jazz just to put the ball in the basket. Defensive intensity, leadership and experience are what Utah primarily needs from Bell — and a little Kobe Bryant stopping.

"We've got a lot of guys who take pride in playing [defense] the right way," Bell said. "And we have got a coach who doesn't stand for anything less than laying it out there on the line."

Bell attempted to do just that Sunday, initially gluing himself to Bryant's grill and playing with the aggressive, annoying style that he has become famous for.

The attack worked well during the first half as Bryant was held scoreless on 0-of-4 shooting.

But the Lakers guard kicked into regular-season form in the third quarter. He badly burned Bell on a drive from the right perimeter. Nineteen points on 7-for-8 shooting and two made 3-pointers followed. And a five-point Jazz halftime lead quickly turned into a one-point third-period deficit.

"That's the type of player he is," said Bell, whose tenacity was limited by three early fouls. "Once he gets hot, he gets that look in his eye. You kind of hold on and hope that you can do a good enough job to keep him away from 40 or 50 [points].

"I've played him enough to know when it's coming. You do your best to try and stop it. Tonight, he caught fire. I couldn't really get close enough to him."

Bell was pursued by Bryant last summer, and the lure of a helicopter ride to Lakerland almost brought the guard to Hollywood. Going head to head with Bryant on Sunday reminded Bell of the relationship that could have been — and of the white-hot battles that will now follow.

"He was better tonight offensively than I was defensively," Bell said.

While Bryant flamed away, Utah rookie Gordon Hayward was equally bright. The forward had his best game by far to lead the Jazz (6-0), scoring a team-high 26 points on 8-of-10 shooting, hitting 10 of 11 free throws and grabbing five rebounds.

Hayward acknowledged that matching up against All-Star, all-world talent players such as Bryant in flashy Los Angeles was surreal — the former Butler standout was watching the Lakers' cast work their magic on television just a few months ago.

But once the ball was in the air, Hayward turned his focus from fantasy to reality.

"They're the opponent and you just have to compete," Hayward said. "This is what I love to do. And it was a lot of fun."

C.J. Miles added 15 points for Utah, while Al Jefferson scored 14.

Pau Gasol topped the Lakers (2-3) with a game-high 28 points and nine rebounds. Los Angeles shot just 39 percent (30-for-77) from the floor.

A Utah second rotation led by Ronnie Price, C.J. Miles and Hayward gave the Jazz a strong second-quarter lift. Price continued to be a sparkplug, pushing the offensive tempo and picking up three steals, while Miles fired away from the perimeter.

But Hayward made the most difference. The rookie forward unleashed his second consecutive confident, aggressive outing. He went at defenders, crashed the glass and provided the type of all-around performance Utah envisioned when the team selected him with the ninth overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft.

Hayward finished the first half with 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting, two rebounds and one assist. And he keyed a Utah attack that gave the Jazz a 49-44 halftime lead.

"He just played basketball," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said.

It then took a resilient fourth-quarter charge led by Price and Hayward for the Jazz to post the best six-game exhibition record in franchise history. —

Storylines

R Jazz forward Gordon Hayward scores a team-high 26 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

• Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant scores 19 points during the third quarter and hits 7 of 8 shot attempts.

• Utah connects on 50.7 percent (35 of 69) of its field-goal tries.