Howard Eisley Returns To Delta Center As Jazz Host Lakers

SALT LAKE CITY – Former Utah Jazz backup point guard Howard Eisley is in the house at Delta Center tonight, returning to his former NBA home. Eisley was John Stockton’s primary backup during the Jazz’s back-to-back NBA Finals runs in 1997 and 1998.

The Jazz (12-40) hosted the new-look Los Angeles Lakers (32-19) at Delta Center on Wednesday, February 12. LA enters the night riding the high of a six-game winning streak and sits fourth in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.

RELATED: Utah Jazz vs. LA Lakers Live Blog

Howard Eisley was a key piece to the #UtahJazz back-to-back #NBA Finals runs. When Stockton left the floor, Eisley stepped in and the Jazz rarely missed a beat. He was back at Delta Center tonight and helped raise $$$ for Primary Children's with these FTs.#TakeNote @KSLSports pic.twitter.com/vISEQolkVW

— Sam Farnsworth (@Samsworth_TV) February 13, 2025

The Jazz have looked like a completely different team after being demolished by Los Angeles on Sunday night. With Lauri Markkanen’s 17 points leading the way, Utah built a 64-56 halftime lead over Luka, LeBron, and the Lakers.

About Howard Eisley

A 6’2 point guard, Eisley attended Boston College before Minnesota selected him with the third pick of the second round in 1994.

The Detroit, Michigan, native signed with the Jazz ahead of the 1995-96 season. He went on to play six years in Utah across two different stints.

Screw it, the timeline needs Howard Eisley highlights this morning

Having Howard come off the bench behind John Stockton was one of the reasons the Jazz were so good in the 90's

Such a fun player pic.twitter.com/i9qBTqr4IS

— Jazz Lead (@JazzLead) June 9, 2024

Eisley played every game from 1996 through 1999, including 82 games in both Jazz Finals. He started 18 games to open the 1996-97 season with Stockton out following off-season knee surgery.

He averaged 7.7 points and 4.2 assists in 21 minutes a night in 1997-98. Eisley finished eighth in the Sixth Man of the Year voting in the strike-shortened 1999.

Eisley played for eight teams in his 12-year NBA career.

Luka, LeBron lead Lakers past Jazz

A glance at the box score suggests that the Lakers executed a basketball masterclass on Monday night, but those who watched the game saw a less-than-inspired effort from the Jazz.

Five first-quarter turnovers and a 2-9 three-point shooting performance allowed the Jazz to fall behind by double-digits early in the contest. They never forced the Lakers to push Luka Dončić to the limit after missing 22 games with a calf injury.

The newest Lakers superstar scored 14 points on 14 shots in his Los Angeles debut, while LeBron James added 24 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.

Dončić played only 25 minutes, adding five rebounds and four assists to the stat sheet as he coasted through his Lakers debut.

Luka’s first Lakers bucket 💧 pic.twitter.com/TCzV8W0lmu

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 11, 2025

“I don’t think we’ve seen anywhere close to kind of the peak of those two playing together and what that’s going to look like,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said.

The Jazz’s offensive was slow to make reads against a Lakers defense that was playing motivated but lacks traditional high-level stoppers.

Defensively, they were slow to react to the Lakers’ ball movement and couldn’t end possessions, allowing LA to grab 10 offensive rebounds while shooting 54 percent from the floor.

While the Jazz are tied for the second-fewest wins in the NBA, they’ve rarely been blown out wire-to-wire like in LA.

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“I think it was a night where we let missing shots or not getting shots or tough plays on that end bleed into our defense and our attention to detail,” Hardy added.

Perhaps the bright lights in Hollywood were too much for the young roster, or maybe they were exhausted from playing the third game of a three-game road trip, but the Jazz failed to show up in one of their most highly anticipated games of the season.

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Follow the Utah Jazz with KSL Sports

Tonight’s game against the Lakers is being televised on KJZZ, streamed on SEG+, and heard on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone.

Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky. 

Find sports.ksl.com coverage of the Utah Jazz here.

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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X and Instagram at @bpreece24. 

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