Lakers - Jazz: Game 5. Back to the Drawing Board

The Lakers and Jazz play a pivotal Game 5 tonight in Los Angeles. I’m not too worried though, since the Lakers have played spotless basketball at home for the past two months. They’ve won 10 games in a row at Staples Center, including two over this Utah team. Further still, the only Lakers game that I attended in the flesh this season was a 123-109 stompin’ of the Jazz in late December, in which Kobe played so viciously that he earned the privilege of resting the entire fourth quarter. I guess what I’m sayin’ is that since the Lakers have been slappin’ Utah around at home since way back in ’07, I have a lot of confidence that our homeownership bubble won’t burst.

I’d be lying to you if I told you that I thought the Jazz were going to walk on the court, play dead, and hand the victory over to Los Angeles; the Lakers have to execute and play within their system in order to win against Utah. They need to play like they have a point guard who’s won some championships; play like they have a coach who’s been to the NBA finals 10 times; play like Odom and Gasol’s versatility make them match-up nightmares; play like they deserve to be the number one seed out West.

Here are some more specific keys to victory:

1. Keeping Derek Fisher out of foul trouble: Fisher is the only Laker that can contain Deron Williams. D-Will has blown games wide open when Fisher has been on the bench.

2. Best Supporting Actors: The L.A. bench needs to step up and drain the shots they get when they’re called upon. In Salt Lake City, Lakers reserves hardly made an impact and were MIA on the stat sheet.

3. Set the Tempo: Hopefully the sour taste of defeat lights a fire under the Lakers and they play with a little excitement. Not even when they crawled their way back into Game 4 were they playing with enthusiasm. Dictate the tone early and stay consistent.

4. Rebound Well: One thing that went right for the Lakers in Utah was that they discovered what boxing out and rebounding is. Eureka! If they continue to limit second-chance points for the Jazz, Game 5 will be easier than arresting an NFL cornerback.

5. Kobe: KB24 just needs to play well in the final 5 minutes of the game. We’re not asking him to build the Sistine Chapel, we just need him to paint the ceiling and whatnot.

And there you have it. How to beat the Jazz in 5 steps. I’m definitely going to CC this post to Phil Jackson for him to disseminate to the rest of the crew. Don’t miss Game 5 tonight at 10 EST!

Although there may be others like it, the outcome of this night will reverberate throughout these walls for millennia.

Stay humble, stay hungry.

Lakers Punked in Salt Lake City

The Lakers took a One-Two punch over the weekend at the hands of the Utah Jazz. After losing a close 104-99 game on Friday night, the Lakers took the Jazz to overtime before ending up on the wrong side of a 123-115 final.

The Lakers starters played well in both games, but what separated these games from the earlier victories was the lack of support from the bench. Kobe had over 30 points in both games, and Odom and Gasol contributed their usual, but our role-players were more like spectators over the weekend. With the exception of Sasha Vujacic, the Lakers bench players were non-factors, and Ronny Turiaf even found a way to get himself ejected from Game 4. That’s gonna have to change if we plan on winning this series.

Phil Jackson must’ve talked to the Lakers’ big men about the slackin’ in their rebounding game, because the battle of the boards has become a lot closer than the first two games of the series, when the Jazz were averaging over 20 offensive rebounds. But as Los Angeles improved its defense, the offense became a lot sloppier, giving up 18 turnovers on Friday night. The Lake Show just needs to regroup, identify the problem areas, and play a strong all-around game on Wednesday at Staples Center. They usually say that the big city corrupts peoples’ minds, but in this case, the Lakers lost their sense of self when they ventured away from the bright lights of L.A. and into the expanse of boredom that is ‘Utah’. I hope two days of rehab can resuscitate and resurrect the Lakers, and get this party back crackin’ (Snoop/Old School reference).

Alright, now, I’m usually a pretty objective when it comes to the character of the teams we play, but there’s always one team that I can’t stand. It’s not that I can’t stand them because they’re a good team, or because they have ugly colors; it’s usually that the combination of characters on their team makes me want to flog myself when I watch them play. Past teams with this distinction include the Steve Nash Suns, The Vlade Divac Kings, and Reggie Miller Pacers. The Utah Jazz are coming extremely close to achieving immortality among the ranks of teams I hate watching. The mix of Kirilenko, Okur, Boozer, Williams, and especially Matt Harpring, is really difficult for me to watch; I feel like it disagrees with me on a very basic internal level.

Before, I just wanted the Lakers to advance to the next round. Now I specifically want them to demoralize the Jazz on their way to the title. It just got personal.

Lakers Stay Playoff Perfect!

Game II was an ideal game for Lakers fans. While I was watching the game, drinking my 99cent can of Mango Madness Arizona, I had to keep looking at my arms to make sure I wasn’t actually dreaming (in my dreams I have dolphin flippers. My psychologist says it’s an evolutionary message from my dolphin twin with human arms). In any event, last night’s game had everything a fan could want: A high score, great plays, a quick start, a close 4th quarter, lots of blocks, primetime players on both squads. And to top it all off, the Lakers won for their sixth playoff game in a row.

The evening started off with the re-presentation of the MVP trophy to Kobe, this time by Commissioner David Stern. Kobe made sure to get his teammates and family in on the fun, which did help to make the repeat presentation less awkward. Fans at Staples Center were given yellow MVP shirts to wear for the game, but I’d say about 14% of the fans even bothered to put ‘em on. I guess that’s kind of expected since everything in L.A is a fashion show, especially if cameras are going to be there. Don’t get me wrong, L.A. fans LOVE Kobe Bryant. I’m just sayin’ they love them some them, too.

The game started out like a track meet, with both teams exploding out the blocks and on fire from the field. The Lakers were the first team to turn up the defense, which allowed them to build a solid lead through most of the first half. They completely shut out Jazz stars Chris Boozer and Deron Williams in the early going, and the rest of the Jazz couldn’t quite pick up the slack. The Lakers got a lot of help from Derek Fisher this game, who ended up with 22 points against his former team. Fisher made a handful of big shots in the first half, which foreshadowed his customary late-game heroics. Lamar Odom also contributed bigtime—with 19 points and 16 rebounds, Lamar got my vote for player of the game.

One person who doesn’t really show up on the stat sheet, but makes a huge impact is Ronny Turiaf. He only had 2 points and 2 rebounds last night, but he fights for every rebound, he challenges every shot, sets great screens, and he plays every minute like it’s overtime. When Turiaf’s in, he’s like a physical manifestation of the Lakers wanting it more than the other team. (BTW-I met Ronny Turiaf on SuperBowl Sunday, and he called me ‘Fam’)

It wasn’t all roses and kittens for the Lakers though. Deron Williams came alive in the second half and led the Jazz storming back into the game. There’s no point guard in the league that’s better or more aggressive at getting to the rim and making plays up there. Kyle Korver also came alive in the second. Even though he looks just like Ashton Kutcher, I gotta say that cat can ball. Paul Millsap had a big game too, converting at least three conventional 3-point plays and causing all kinds of problems for Odom down low.

But it was too little, too late for the Jazz.

There would be no storybook ending to this game. No miraculous finish. The Lakers dictated the game from the start and held Utah at bay like Lennox Lewis jabbing at Mike Tyson. Time is runnin’ out and it’s gonna be difficult for Utah to get back in this series if they don’t make serious strategic changes.

Los Angeles Lakers: Undefeated in the 2008 Playoffs.

http://www.nba.com/games/20080507/UTALAL/boxscore.html