LAKERS -at- JAZZ - 5/16 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Win No. 8 - A Certain Sense of Fury... It's been 20 years and a day since the Lakers last won a playoff game in Utah. A decade since young Kobe's airballs to end a season there. Tonight, with a much older Kobe and DFish, the Lakers overcame all that and held on to the 108-105 road win.

We advance to the NBA version of the Final Four, and we are four wins away from a return to the Finals. Prior to the game, Phil wanted the team to play with poise and "a certain sense of fury" in this hostile environment.

It wasn't easy. "Protect the three!" may still be echoing in your head. The Jazz made a frenzied comeback in the final minutes draining three after three after three until they finally had a chance to tie it up. Dodging bullets left and right in the final seconds, the Lakers hung on.

"That was another wire to wire finish and that's impressive on the road," Phil said afterward.

The Lakers crushed the Jazz out of the gates playing some of their best two-way ball of the series. Pau was rebounding and blocking shots. DFish was his usual self with the steals. Kobe was executing like an assassin and we led by 19 at the half. And there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth and cursing of zebras...and it was a beautiful sound to Laker fans.

We played close during the third, both teams trading baskets, and then Phil went to his regular deep bench rotation to start the fourth. The Jazz chipped away at the lead a little. In the final couple minutes, the Jazz then went three crazy and hit just about everything they took until they were finally in striking distance.

It was an impressive late run, and now it was Laker fans on the edge of their seats and hearts pounding. But the Jazz finally ran out of ammo.

"It shows a lot of character on our part to come in here and come out with a victory," Kobe said.

Four wins from the Finals.

One game. One quarter. One possession at a time.



Kobe -- -- "I feel great today," Kobe said before the game. "My back's as close to 100 percent as it's going to get." The best news Laker fans could hear. And Kobe certainly played like it. There was some things he did in the air and around the rim he couldn't have done in the last two games. A good well-rounded game for the first three quarters. Then things got a little dicey in the fourth. A few turnovers, the team strugged to score, and Kobe came through manufacturing points at the line and hitting a big three. "I went to the Black Mamba," Kobe said of that three shot. The team definitely went to the Kobe crutch and they needed it. "They're and incredible team. A tough team to play," Kobe said of the Jazz. The Stats: He scored 34 points on 9-19 shooting (1-2 from three, 15-17 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 6 assists, 5 turnovers and 4 fouls in 40 minutes. The Action: He scored a layup on a leak out. He missed a face-up wing jumper. He iso'd, attacked and drew FTs, he made both. He got to the rim when no one stopped the ball and scored the layup. He missed a baseline jumper. He worked off the two-man game, got deep into the D and scored the layup. He was fouled on the defensive glass for FTs, he made both. He got tapped on a bank at the rim. He attacked into the lane, hung, took a whack from Okur and drew FTs, he made both. He iso'd on Harpring's tight D, blew past him and drew the foul, getting mugged, he made one. He blew past Harpring and dumped it off to Lamar for the dunk. He missed a three. He trailed the break, took the pass back from Fish, elevated, pumped and threw down with both hands on AK. He hit Gasol off the two-man game out of the timeout for an easy dunk. He drew FTs, looking like he was about to windmill jam against the zone, he made one (he must have been feeling pretty good to try that, but he should probably keep things simple still). He missed on a step-through. He had 16 points on 4-9 shooting (8-10 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists. Second Half: He missed a step-back jumper. He hit LO under the hoop for a layup. He got tapped on a jumper over AK. He swished a wing fallaway. He got picked on a drive for a dunk the other way. He charged in transition. He swished a tough fade, going weak to strong from about 18 feet out. He missed a fade from the mid-post. He hit a high arching shot on an attack to his right at the end of the third. He had 6 points and 3 assists in the third. First possession for Kobe of the fourth and he dribbles right into a defender to turn the ball over out of the timeout. His post entry to Pau was picked off when Boozer stepped around him. He was called for clearing out in the post coming out of a timeout for another turnover. Huge three late in the shotclock with under 5 minutes left. He had Harpring on top of him from 20 feet out, he heaved it up and banked in the And-1, he made the FT. Nice help reach to force Okur into a travel on the drive. He blew past AK, sliced by Milsap and drew the foul, he made both FTs with 2:12 left. He missed a wing jumper. He pushed out off a rebound in transition and drew FTs, he made both with 1:13 to lead by 9. He was rejected at the rim. He was doubled on the in-bounds and had to pass to Lamar with 19 seconds left (Lamar sank both). He didn't recover to AK, who hit a three with 15 seconds left. Kobe was fouled on the in-bounds, he made both clutch ones. He may have done enough to bug Deron on that last three attempt that he took and missed.

Gasol -- -- He easily had his best half on the boards and in the paint on the defensive end during the first 24 minutes. He pulled down 11 boards and blocked 3 shots in that first half. He got a couple fouls out of it, but he helped keep the Jazz at bay. The second half, he only pulled down 2 rebounds and we suffered (the Jazz had 14 offensive rebounds in that second half). Offensively, he was key in our third quarter, scoring a number of times. The Jazz really respected Pau's passing game and tried not to double when they could help it, so we went to him in the post a number of times. We also tried to iso Pau on Boozer who had serious foul issues (it's rare that we pick on someone with foul trouble, but good to see). As much trouble as the Jazz bigs were, Pau definitely gave them fits trying to score around him. Boozer may be thinking about those long arms of Pau's all summer. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-17 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 13 boards, 2 assists, 4 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 44 minutes. The Action: He missed a jumphook. He sank a 14-footer from the right side. Nice contest on Okur. He was fouled under the hoop on a throwdown with no call (easy call). He missed an elbow jumper. He swatted AK off a help D switch. He bounced to Lamar in the lane for the throwdown. He hit the baseline turnaround fade. He lost the ball, got it back, missed it but Vlad tipped it in. He missed a baseline jumper. He dunked with ease off the two-man game with Kobe out of a timeout. He was stripped in the lane. He missed point-blank at the rim and missed the tip in. He scored just 6 points on 3-10 shooting, but had 11 boards, 2 assists and 3 blocks at the half. Second Half: He swished a turnaround over Okur in the lane. He hit a jumphook getting good position on the entry. He scooped up the bad pass by Kobe and hit the short jumphook. He hit Lamar with a bounce pass for FTs. He drew FTs when Kobe hit him in the lane and Pau used his left to force Boozer to come across his body for the foul, he made one. He missed an elbow jumper. He forced a pass to Vlad that he should have shot in the lane. He then drew a charge on Boozer on the other end (his fourth). He drew FTs on a reach in the high post, he made both. He was blocked in the lane, then lost the ball off his foot. Pau had 9 points in the third. He beat Boozer with a quick first step across his body and drew a goaltend call. He missed with his left in the lane. He didn't protect the three and Okur drained one on him with under 2 minutes left.

Lamar -- -- With 19 ticks on the clock, Lamar went to the freethrow line and knocked down both. Again, clutch points by Lamar in this series. Were you nervous? Great job by Lamar to hit those key makes. He was involved in a couple turnovers late in the game, though, that helped the Jazz's cause. Well-rounded effort from Lamar. He was a workhorse all series and gave the Jazz problems. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-8 shooting (5-7 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 42 minutes. The Action: He got picked from behind in transition to blow a breakaway. He missed a FT jumper. He blocked Okur. He attacked with speed in transition against Boozer and had his And-1 layup goaltended, he made the FT. He missed a bank. He jammed over two players when Pau threaded the needle with the bounce pass from the post. He took the Kobe drive and pass and dunked it. He drew a charge on Boozer off an excellent help D rotation. He had 7 points on 3-5 shooting, 4 boards and 3 assists. Second Half: He scored a layup off of Kobe's drive. He blocked Okur's post up attempt. He saw a lane in early offense, attacked Boozer and drew FTs on the grab, he made one. He wanted a goaltend on a layup attempt. He drew FTs off some good passing by the Lakers in early offense, he made one. All kinds of contact with no call on a miss under the hoop. He tried to throw a ball off his man on a tough pass from Pau, but turned it over. He traveled on a drive with 3 minutes left. With 19 seconds left, he was fouled with a 3-point lead, he made both clutch ones to put the lead back to 5.

Fisher -- -- One has to wonder if whichever team had DFish in this series is the one who takes it. I don't know what guard we might have picked up instead of DFish, but Fisher was huge for us in this series. The steal numbers from him were sensational. The clutch shooting and vet presence gave the team another steady player time and time again. I'm glad I don't have to be talking about the one freethrow that got away from Fish at the end of the game. That almost bit us badly. Foul trouble sidelined him early in the last two losses in Utah. Not this one, though, he was definitely much more cautious after picking up an early foul, but he avoided having to sit. That may have been the difference. Some very efficient scoring by Fish tonight. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 4-5 shooting (1-1 from three, 7-8 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 0 turnovers and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. The Action: He drained an early offense wing jumper. He was called for a reach on Okur, that looked clean. He missed a pull-up in early offense. He pushed out the strip by Kobe and drew FTs going coast to coast, he made both. He dropped to the level of the ball and swiped a baseline pass. He pushed out a steal after picking Williams, took a soft foul and finished the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He hit Kobe on the break for the dunk. He drained a wing three over the zone. He picked Williams in transition with a nice reach. With the Jazz fans shouting "referees suck" at the top of their lungs, DFish drew a foul shooting a three at the end of the half (they definitely decided not to swallow their whistles with all that shouting), Fish made all three FTs. He had 13 points on 3-4 shooting (6-6 from the line) to go with 2 assists and 3 steals. Second Half: He picked up his third foul trying to draw a charge on Brewer. He hit a tough jumper in the lane, pulling it up from his hip with under 6 minutes left when the Lakers were struggling offensively. Williams was looking for nothing but three, and Fish finally sagged off and gave it to him to cut the lead to 8. He was fouled with 12.7 seconds left up by 2, he made just one.

Radmanovic -- -- Vlad led the Lakers with a +17. He wasn't in on any fourth-quarter action and that was the big difference on that number. But he followed up his good game in L.A. with another one here. Some very efficient scoring. The drop off between him and Luke in this one was almost similar to how Fisher and Farmar have been. Props to Vlad for bringing it on the road. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-7 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 3 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. The Action: He drained a three on our first shot of the game. He scored a layup, attacking in semi-transition. He tipped in a miss by Gasol. Back in late during the second quarter, he missed a corner three over the zone. He had 7 points on 3-4 shooting. Second Half: Good hustle for an offensive board and we eventually scored off it. He hit over Brewer in the post. He sank the three off the busted play and kickout by Kobe. He missed a baseline jumper.

Luke -- -- When Luke Walton is taking jumpers as the thrust of your early fourth quarter attack, something is wrong. We played right into the Jazz hands and Luke failed to deliver on his opportunities. Somewhere in L.A., a Trevor Ariza jersey is eager to get into the game. After a great series against the Nuggets, Luke struggled in this one. Hopefully, the match ups will favor him in the WCF. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 assists, 1 block and 2 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He blocked Harpring, but we couldn't contain the rebounds and Luke fouled him for FTs. He missed an elbow jumper. He missed a corner three. He swished a three on a kickout from Sasha. Second Half: Stupid reach foul in the corner on Milsap to give up FTs when he wasn't a threat. He missed a wing jumper to start the fourth. He missed a FT jumper against the shotclock, uggh.

Turiaf -- -- No boards, a couple blocks and a lot of fouls. Against the Jazz, Ronny's inabilities to secure defensive boards really hurt us. His mobility and shotblocking are always great, but he's not doing himself any favors. And, he was even getting some minutes at PF in this series. With all his energy and activity, you wish it would transfer into rebounding. The Stats: He scored 1 points on 1-2 shooting from the line to go with 2 blocks, 0 boards, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in just 10 minutes. The Action: He blocked a shot with Pau under the hoop. Bad angle on his D challenge and he gave up an And-1. Second Half: He picked up Boozer's fifth foul, attacking him off the dribble, he made one FT. He turned the ball over on a handoff/illegal screen.

Vujacic -- -- The machine was tuned up and came out firing on target. Sick Jumpers of Death on the Road. What has been great about Sasha this year is that you get that feeling that even though he had a poor shooting game, that he was going to bounce back. And that's been a major part of his growth. Excellent bounce-back game from Sasha offensively. He seemed to attack the rim a little more to give the Jazz something to think about and that resulted in a couple scores, an assist and one turnover. It was always an adventure, but he came out ahead with his aggressiveness off the dribble. The Machine also gave up the body for a late game charge. Korver had been an x-factor for the Jazz since they acquired him. Sasha took him out. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-7 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. The Action: He swished a sideline three on his first touch when Farmar kicked out to him. He traveled on a drive into traffic and Stu says "Man must know his limitations." He left Korver wide open for a three, guarding no one in the paint. He swished a baseline catch and shoot. He fouled Korver on the other end on a jumper. He kicked out to Luke for a three. He hesitated off the dribble, attacked and scored the layup. He got tapped on a three. He drained a three over the zone. He had 10 points on 4-5 shooting (2-3 from three) in the first half. Second Half: He up-faked, attacked past Korver and scored the layup with his left. He bricked a pull-up jumper. He got plowed over by Milsap (that's how you take a charge!).

Farmar -- -- Pretty much a nightmare series from Farmar. He got better defensively as the series went along, but he's still got to step it up. He's probably better suited to cover either of the guards in the next series. Any physical guard gives him trouble and Deron was able to power past Farmar quite a bit. Hopefully, with a couple straight home games and the home crowd behind him, he can build back up that confidence. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting, he had 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnvoer and 2 fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He passed up the three, attacked, drew the D and hit Sasha for three. He fouled Price on his drive for FTs. He deflected a pass to cause a turnover. He missed a baseline jumper. Weak, telegraphed pass at the top of the key and it was picked off, he then had to foul. That got him benched at the 8:15 mark of the second quarter. Second Half: He camped out on the perimeter when Deron doubled the post (you've got to cut down the lane on those, Farmar). He got beat off the dribble for a layup by Deron.

Phil -- -- "I thought we ran out of gas a little bit in the second half," Phil said afterward. More like the fourth quarter. We struggled for every point and needed just about all 22 we scored in that final quarter. I'll be happy to see Ariza thrown in the mix of our bench. Outside of Sasha, no one gave much in this series... The Lakers pushed out to an 18-10 lead before the timeout came midway through the quarter. A lot of attacking in early offense and some good D by Pau protecting the paint... More tight D and getting to the rim on the other end and we led 28-14. Taking the lead early in this series has been huge... We led 33-20 after the first quarter. Good two-way play to start the game. Lakers shot 12-24 in the quarter with just 1 turnover... Leading 50-35, Phil took a timeout late in the second. Not sure if he sensed we were giving up a few good looks defensively, or if he didn't like our last few offensive possessions. We ran the Pau/Kobe two-man out of the timeout for an easy dunk... We led 56-41 as the next timeout came. The Jazz had moved to a zone to try to throw us off our game. We played the zone much more effectively... The Lakers led 62-43 with Jazz fans booing like mad at the half -- their anger directed at the refs (what else is new). That was a beautiful sound... We kept the Jazz to 33 percent shooting (14-42) while hitting 50 percent of our shots. The Jazz only had a 6-4 advantage on the offfensive glass. We had just 4 turnovers in the half and a 16-2 lead on the break... The coaches warned the Lakers that the atmosphere was going to change with the Jazz getting desperate. Be prepared, they said... We led 80-66 with 2:20 left in the third. The coaches wanted the Lakers to work more time off the clock in their possessions. Out of the timeout, we drew FTs on a reach... We led 86-70 heading into the fourth. Now, it would be up to the Laker second unit to hold the line for the first few minutes of the fourth... Phil went to a Ronny, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Jordan lineup to start. That unit let the Jazz trim the lead to 89-76 with over 8 minutes left. Phil called a timeout and brought back in Kobe and Pau for Lamar and Luke... The Jazz cut it to 9 with 6:22 left and Phil called a timeout to get the rest of his starters in... Boozer fouled out with 4:34 left going over the back. We had a 10-point lead... The Jazz drained three after three to cut the lead to just 3 with 24 seconds left. Phil called timeout. We got the ball to Kobe, but he was doubled and had to give it up to LO. Lamar was fouled and hit both with 19 seconds left to lead by 5... Fish missed a FT and the Jazz had two shots to tie it up, but missed in the last second flurry. Phil wasn't worried, he said, adding that Hamblen was "a wreck." Crazy finish... The Lakers not only took a rare Western Conference Semi's road win, they took only the third game from that Jazz at home in 2008. The last regular season home loss from the Jazz, of course, was by this Laker team... Phil seemed to favor playing the Hornets vs. the Spurs. We were 2-2 against both teams...

Game Flow -- LINK -- The Lakers had a good start and a 23-8 run in that first quarter. The Jazz had 12-2 and 17-6 runs in the fourth quarter.

[minorbravo]

yaaaaaay Go Lakers

great recap DB!
_________________
The only thing standing between me and greatness, is me.

[City_Dawg]

DB spits hot fiya

But on another note, who do think the lakers would match up better with?

NO? or SAS?
_________________
*sighs*

!...

[LakerSanity]

Ronny has been almost as disappointing as Farmar in this series.... that said, I'll take the wins and look forward to our bench not having to guard/rebound against the Harprings and Milsaps of the world.
_________________
LakersGround's Terms of Service

Twitter: @DeleteThisPost

[JTS]

WOW................

we're going to the wcf's....

i almost don't believe i'm posting about this.

congrats to the lakers!
_________________
That said, everything is looking pretty rosy for the Lakers, which brings up the question of whether some of their younger players might find complacency in success.

"Not at all," Bryant said, smiling. "I won't let that happen. I crack the whip."

[DancingBarry]

[Mation]

Thanks DB!

What a relief this series is over.

We needed every single point of that lead. I'm glad we didn't have to climb our way out of anything this time. Our cushion gave us just enough to give some utter heartbreak to all Jazz folk. Love it!

The frenzied comeback was unbelievable. How huge was their basket at the end of the fourth.

Hilarious in the press conference where Kobe mentions the black mamba and just stars laughing afterwards. An evil laugh.

Also good to see his back is nearer to that 100% mark. Absolute daggers in the fourth.

Glad Harpring is done for the season. His play is a disgrace to basketball.

Congratulations Lamar, Pau, Vlad and all those other guys whose playoff run is the farthest in their careers so far.

Can't wait to see Ariza. I agree, the bench could use some extra support. First Luke in the Denver series. Second Fisher in the Utah series. Want to see who will make a huge contribution for the WCF. HCA yes!

Here we come!

[limchrc]

Great win! Let's take advantage of this break to get the needed rest.

[KingKobe20]

Now that is how you take care of business on the road especially.

Unlike some other teams that can't buy a win on the road which I will hold back from mentioning.

*COUGH* BOSTON *COUGH*

Lakers pulled off this series closing win in a real hostile enviroment!!!
GOOD STUFF!!!!

Crazy how Utah only lost in that building only 5 times this year

Off to the West FInals!!!!

WE THE BEST !!!!


GO LAKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sister Golden Hair]

I was disappointed in Phil's line-up to start the fourth. The Jazz were going to be playing desperate ball, and their defense was going to pick up. So PJ puts in a line-up that had done close to nothing all series with not one player among them able to manufacture a shot on his own, if need be. I understand that Phil likes consistency and giving the bench players a role. Fine. But when you can deliver a knock-out punch, you do it. You don't save your haymakers for the last ten seconds of the fight.

Once momentum shifts it's very hard for it to shift back, and PJ likes to tempt fate as he did at times tonite.

In addition, given the fact that the Lakers consistently give up wide-open threes when they can least afford to, I really do think that they must not pactice any situational defense. At all. It is inconceivable that a team that practices these situations would repeatedly make the same kind of bonehead manuevers, some even by the vets like Kobe (excuse me: you're going to double Williams on an inbounds play and leave kirilenko by himself?).

Why not just play everyone honestly, rather than double anyone and leave at least one or two jazz wide open down the stretch? I said elsewhere that the lakers may be the most talented AND the dumbest team in the league. The game tonight could have ended tragically because of so many bone-head mistakes on D. I don't give the jazz that much credit because, save for the Williams three that started the barrage, they were virtually all uncontested.

I'm tired of what I see are serious lack of fundamnetals on D. Thir biggest problem is a lack of discipline. Guys seem to like to collapse into the middle or gamble for steals, but they often leave the opposing team's best shooters wide open on risky moves. Unless they clean that up, it will come back to haunt them against either NO or SA.

SGH

[A Mad Chinaman]

DB - it appears that they have "lengthened" their spacing that allowed Pau more freedom while limiting the countless arms/hands that were reaching him and disrupting his "foundation" (as PJ has often stated). What other specific things did you see that the Lakers did different than gaames 3 & 4?

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

^ Oh, and DFish stayed out of foul trouble unlike those games.

[mokobe]

[Siguy]

Terrifying finish, satisfying result.

One of our problems in the fourth for a short while was we just didn't score. Gasol was single-covered by Boozer and just didn't produce. He's gotta be a bit more dependable. Thank goodness for Kobe's circus shots.

My entire family was basically running around the house screaming about all those three-pointers. It's one thing for them to hit five threes, it's another for all but one of them to be wide freaking open. Yeesh!

[DancingBarry]

[8750]

thanks, DB
great win, with some concerns... ten playoffs games, ten times we are outrebounded... we give up more than sixteen offensive rebounds every game, definitely too much... and i can't stand those wide open threepointers, especially tonight when threepointers were utah last weapon... i still don't like our defensive strategy... but if we get rid of some complaisances, our offensive play is impressing, everything really flows...

[Aces25]

DB, don't you think that Sasha earned his for his D on Korver and the charge he took?

[DancingBarry]

[limchrc]

The charge call on Milsap was huge... props to Sasha for putting himself on the line to get that call.

[Futuristic]

I've read a lot of your analysis but this one is way up there, bro. I really enjoyed it. And right on, too. I couldn't have said it better myself. You're a talented writer.

[kups]

thanks for the recap DB.

congrats to the whole team for winning a series against the nba's best home court. derek, lamar & sasha all played big this series. i expect jordan to bounce back in the next one.
_________________
#2 Lonzo
#28 Derrick White, Jordan Bell, Deonte Burton

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

CLUTCH FREE THROWS, WELCOME WCF, 8 MORE WINS
_________________
"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[Dr. Laker]

[jeremysnowIII]

Thank you Mr.DancingBarry. I love your articls!
Gramps got us tickets from his friends in Utah near the bench so Dad and me flew here and went to the game.It was so loud that Dad told me to put napkins int my ears. I did not like sitting too close to the bench becuase I got hit by some ice becuase some bad fans threw stuff at the team.There were some bad fans here,Gramps went to medical school here so I wont say bad stuff about the Uath fans.Here is one story that I can tell yuo.Late in the game Sasha was hurting in his foot and wanted to sit down.Kobe got right up to him and almost pulled him up and yelled at h im a few not too nice words adn that "Let's finish these ***(guys)*** .Lets go!... Sasha got up or was pulled up and stayed up.Gramps says that Kobe expects Sasha to be as tough with injries as he is.I'd be scared to be Sasha I'll be4 flying back later this morning.

js3