Lakers vs. Jazz reaction: Mike Brown lineup choices costly

With the Lakers dropping to 1-4 despite a superstar lineup, Lakers head coach Mike Brown has been the frequent target of criticism. While all of the Lakers' current problems are surely not solely Brown's fault, his lineup choices against Utah were not well received.

SB Nation's Lakers blog Silver Screen and Roll took a closer look at some of Brown's lineup choices against the Jazz. Among the questionable lineups was the one Brown used at the end of the first quarter. The Lakers closed the first quarter with a lineup of Darius Morris, Devin Ebanks, Antawn Jamison, Jordan Hill and Pau Gasol. How did it go? Not well.

A passive Pau Gasol paired with no great floor-spacing shooter or shot-creating playmaker, what could go wrong? That line-up closed out the final two and half minutes and produce not a single point. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Goose Egg.

Brown went with a similar lineup to begin the second quarter and the results were once again not in the Lakers favor. Metta World Peace came in at shooting guard and Dwight Howard took over at center, but the Lakers lineup of four non-shooters and a center cost them again.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that this line-up played a couple minutes and was outscored 10-4. Playing these two line-ups to end the first quarter and start the second quarter caused the Jazz' four-point lead to balloon to fourteen points. The Lakers would never recover from that run.

Brown used the same second-quarter lineup again in the fourth quarter. Once again, it didn't work in the Lakers' favor.

The Jazz extended their lead another three points during that span. For those of you who are counting, those line-ups were a combined -13 while the other line-ups were a +4.

Some fans are already calling for Brown to be fired and costly decisions like the lineup choices he made on Wednesday will do nothing to quiet those calls.