Lakers-Jazz Game 5: Quarter 4

The Lakers open the final quarter with Kobe on the bench and Radmanovic helps his team's cause by hitting a three with no time left on the shot clock. His scoring has been sporadic but huge in this game.

Kyle Korver hits a long jumper and Utah continues to hits their open looks. Radmanovic mises a layup on the other end and the Lakers again struggle to break away.

Matt Harpring bails out Luke Walton on a tough fadeaway from the left baseline, but he struggles in hitting one of two from the line.

The Lakers lead stands at 85-84 now.

Okur pushes Gasol in the back to stop the clock on a Lakers possession that has been extremely sloppy. Gasol manages to drop in a layup on a no-call blocking foul, but Williams comes right back on a layup.

Farmar comes up huge with a driving layup and gets the Staples Center crowd to its feet. His free throw attempt comes up after the commercial break as 8 and a half minutes remain for the Lakers, as they lead 89-86.

Commercial critique: The Edge shaving cream commercial features scantily clad women and disco dancing. What's not to love? The disco dancing.

Farmar hits his free throw and Kobe returns to the game. Unfortunatley, Kierelenko greets his return with a cutting layup, trimming the Jazz deficit to 90-88.

Odom takes a one handed jam off a pretty Kobe feed, his sixth of the night. Farmar collects a foul guarding D. Williams and Fisher checks in.

The game's pace has picked up beyond either team's capacity to play well. Kirielenko picks up his third foul after a wild fast break and Vujacic hits his free throws to push his team's lead back to 94-88.

Deron Williams hits an open jumper for a game high 24 points but he's barely shooting fifty percent. Perhaps its just me but it feels like he's shooting something more like eighty percent.

Odom comes right back with a thundering dunk and a phantom foul from Boozer sends him to the line for the three point play. Boozer drags his feet making a move to the rim and Lakers get the ball back and get another chance to extend their 97-91 lead. This is probably the biggest run the Lake Show has had all game and the momentum is firmly in their court.

After a timeout, Okur gets to the line and hits both of his free throws to quiet the crowd somewhat. Both teams are in the penalty with under five minutes remaining. I have a feeling this game is going to slow down some.

Boozer hits one of two free throws and the score is at 97-94, Lakers. Derek Fisher must have heard my comment and he collects his own trip to the line, hitting both attempts for a 99-94 lead.

Both teams rush through some sloppy possessions with neither squad scoring. Only three minutes remain but the remaining contest looks to be physical and close.

Commercial critique: Normally Geico commercials make me ill, but I kind of like how the wildlife expert commercial avoids the awkwardness of the cavemen commercials and skips straight to boring.

Boozer muscles into the paint for a layup. Deron Williams then spots the Lakers a trip to the line with an ill-advised foul on D. Fish. Pescado hits both and pushes the Lakers lead back to five.

Vujacic then collects a costly technical foul when the refs spot him trash talking in the face of Kyle Korver. Dumb.

Deron Williams jabs a needle in my heart and sinks a three at the end of a broken play. The Lakers lead by one point until Kobe again finds Odom for a sweet dunk, pushing the lead back to 103-100. Only a minute and a half remains.

Okur grabs the offensive board on a Williams missed trey and the lead gets cut back to one. Doug Collins reminds us that he hasn't taken a shot this quarter. Fortunately, Gasol forces himself in the paint for an open two. Only forty seconds remain and the Lakers lead by three.

Gasol restores my faith in humanity after Vujacic, the Machine, misses an open three pointer, and Gasol puts in the dunk for a 107-102 lead.

You have to tip your hat to Utah. Win or lose, they've played the Jazz as close or closer than the Lakers did back on their home court. This has been an excellent series and I have the bitten nail stubs to prove it.


Twenty point five seconds are left in the final quarter but the Jazz have the ball and Deron Williams has proved himself capable of inspired play in the playoffs. Instead of proving my point, thankfully, Williams misses a three and D. Fisher grabs the rebound and immediately gets fouled.

Fisher misses one and I can feel that miss in my groin. The second bounces off the rim, off the board, and back in. My groin feels that one too.

Kobe sinks two free throw to muted cries of "MVP." Even the home crowd knows they've dodged a bullet in this heated contest. It now looks certain, the Lakers will win 111-104 in what has been the closest game by far in the Staples Center.

Doug Collins again comes up with a startling statistic. Kobe Bryant, on ten shot attempts in the game, ha scored twenty six points for a 2.6 point per shot average. That's incredibly efficient and one of the major reasons, in addition to timely contributions from Gasol, Odom and the Lakers bench, that the Lake Show comes away with a victory today.

Thanks for joining me and I hope you had as much fun reading my recap as I did sweating through this excellent game.

Lakers-Jazz Game 5: Quarter 3

The Jazz waste no time in getting to the line and cutting the Lakers halftime lead to 61-56.

Both teams are hitting over fifty percent from the floor so it's no surprise that they're trading shots now, putting the score at 63-60 after another spectacular Deron Williams jumper.

Kobe forces his way to the rim to get the contact and a trip to the foul line, but he's not showing the explosiveness or flexibility that Lakers fans have come to take for granted. At the very least he's hitting his free throws which helps stop the bleeding and pushes his team's lead at 65-62.

Odom catches Kirielenko's head underneath his chin while defending the paint, which unfortunately comes on the back of a blocking foul. He heads to the bench to stop his bleeding (literally this time).

Deron Williams ties the game with a wide open three pointer from the right corner. No question that he's the MVP of his team. The MVP of the league, Kobe, has been quiet so far this half. As soon as I write that, he backs down D. Williams for an easy layup.

A defensive stop by the Lakers and a Kobe assist to Odom resets the Laker lead to 73-69 with five and a half minutes left in the third quarter.

The refs have swallowed their whistles this half as players on both teams have hit the deck without any calls. As a basketball fan I'm glad to see the action but as a Lakers fan I worry for Kobe's health.

Commercial critique: The NBA playoff split head commercial keeps showing faces, this time D. Fisher with D. Williams. It's simple, honest, and intense. I like it a great deal more than the affected enthusiasm of past playoff commercials.

The Inside Trax segment shows Jerry Sloan's halftime speech. Is there another coach in the league who looks and talks more like a college professor? And a dry, boring professor at that?

Kobe goes up hard for a dunk but misses off the back of the rim, instead drawing the foul shots. He misses both and more than anything else that tells me that his back is not fine. The fact that the score is tied at 73 points also defends that notion.

In an interview Kobe says that he enjoys the pressure of competing in the playoffs and compares it playing poker. With many players I'd call that false bravado. Not so with the Black Mamba.

Kobe hits one of two free throws to push their lead back to 76-73 which is immediately cut down by a dunk by Ronnie Brewer. Easy Jazz shots like those are what's giving me ulcers.

Just when I'm ready to write off Kobe as a shell of himself, he pulls of a floating, contorting layup for the potential three point play. Amazingly his 22 points have come on 6-9 shooting.

With a little over a minute left in the quarter the Jazz trail 81-77.

Farmar misses an open trey at the end of the quarter and the Lakers' offense has clearly stagnated. The fourth quarter will open up with the score tied at 81 but other then Kobe, no other Lakers has been hitting his shots. I'm very worried that Kobe's production has again come at the cost of his team's offensive flow.

At various times this game, Fisher, Kobe, Gasol, and Odom have played well and carried their team, but rarely have multiple players performed well at the same time. The Lakers will need to spread the ball around better if they want to pull out a victory today.

Lakers-Jazz Game 5: Quarter 2

Scroll down for my commentary on the first quarter.

The Lakers take their 29-26 lead into the start of the quarter and get lucky on some early Utah misses. Gasol then bails out his teammates with a strong dunk after several missed Lakers shots. Both teams are getting offensive rebounds and both team's defenses continue to struggle.

An interesting statistic came up: there's been only one lead change during the course of the first four games. How the heck is that possible?

Farmar hits a three pointer, then Okur responds on the opposite end of the court with his own triple. I'll take that exchange any day if it helps Farmar develop some confidence after what's been a horrible shooting slump in this series.

Gasol collects a shooting foul after surviving a gang mugging by nearly every player wearing blue. The refs might want to check for some brass knuckles on the Jazz bench (whoops, that's my Lakers fandom sneaking out).

During the Inside Trax segment Odom sings along to the stadium's music. The dude's had his share of problems in the past, but Lamar has really grown up in the last couple of years and I like the guy.

Gasol hits his free throws and extends the Lakers lead to 38-33.

Fisher bodies up to Deron Williams and forces the turnover, leading to two Kobe free throws on the other end. Fisher's physical defense has worked pretty well while Farmar has been on the receiving end of Williams' upper body strength and, as Doug Collins has stated, that's fueling Farmar's shooting woes.

Some hot shooting and more Utah turnovers have widened the Lakers lead to 45-35. This is more like it as the Lakers are now getting into the lane and drawing fouls even if Utah is preventing easy buckets. Roughly six minutes are left in the quarter.

Commercial critique: I like the Charles Barkeley- D. Wade commercials, because they have believable chemistry and Barkeley is possibly the funniest ex-NBA baller around. I just wish they'd come out with a new one.

Kobe finds Gasol on a pick and roll for the first easy basket of the game for the Lakers. Okur ruins the moment by hitting a tough jumper on the end and cuts the Lakers lead to 48-39.

The energy has picked up dramatically on both sides of the court for the Lakers. They've come up with consecutive defensive stops and some open buckets. Then Kobe ruins the moment and throws the ball away. Okur jumps in and hits another jumper to add insult to injury. Kierilenko (?) takes a steal for a dunk and the Lakers momentum just took a shot to the gonads.

Lakers lead 53-46 with a little under three minutes left in the half.

Commercial critique: I've seen the Zune commercial about six times now but only now did I realize the album covers spelled out a message. Sometimes my slowness amazes even me.

Kobe hits Gasol on a fast break dunk to push the Lakers lead back up to 55-50 but turnovers continue to plague them. On the previous play, Deron Williams proved just how dangerous he is with a highlight quality crossover move to set up an open jumper. There's no question that Williams is the heart and soul of this Jazz squad.

The Lakers close out the half with a barrage of hook shots and layups and reain a 61-54 lead.

It's clear that the Lakers have refound their energy and possibly the biggest difference has been Derek Fisher's stellar defense on Deron Williams. Neither Fisher nor Farmar can match Williams' speed, but Fisher has the strength and the wiles to make him work for his shot and that limits the entire Jazz offense.

I like how Kobe came out aggressive in the first quarter and then helped set up his teammates, especially Gasol in the second period. In the Games 3,4 Kobe took over the game frequently to the detriment of his team's offensive flow so it's reassuring to see a better balance of cutting, passing, and driving out of KB24.

Lakers-Jazz Game 5: Quarter 1

Kobe hits a three pointer for the first points of the game and follows it up with a long two for an early 5-0 Lakers lead. Looks like his back is doing okay at this point. He's too much of a competitor to leave his team in the lurch, but hopefully he can pick his spots and not wear himself out.

As well as the Lakers have played in jumping out to eleven early points, the Jazz have stuck right with them on an array of dunks and easy layups. The Lakers have really struggled on defense the last few game and that trend can't continue if they want to move on to the next round.

After the first timeout of the game with seven minutes left in the first half there's a lot for the L.A. crowd to cheer for as they lead 15-8. The Lake Show tallied points from most of its starting five and Odom and Radmanovic have come out shooting. Odom's aggression was a big reason why the Lakers stayed close in Utah so his energy will be a key down the stretch.

Timeout commercial critique: The WNBA has awful commercials. I'm not saying that's the reason why I don't watch their games, but they don't help.

A flurry of Utah shots have tightened the score at 22-16 Lakers. Fortunately, Radmanovic discovered his shooting stroke and drilled two threes and now they lead 25-16. Damn the Lakers look good when their shooters are tickling the twine.

Commercial critique: The more commercials I see, the worse the House of Payne. Conversely, My Boys keeps looking better and better.

Kobe collects a weaksauce foul on a fine bit of flopping by Matt Harpring. Wasn't he supposed to be one of the genuinely tough guys in the league?

Utah completely kills the Lakers' momentum when Korver sinks Utah's first three off a Luke Walton turnover. Both teams bring in their bench players and I have to agree with Charles Barkeley's comments about their matchup. The starting five of each team have already proved themselves almost a wash, but the Utah bench has outplayed the Lakers' squad during the series. We'll see if Kobe and co. can turn that around.

Turnovers are now bringing the Jazz back into this contest. The Lakers lead has shrunk to 29-25 with Boozer shooting two from the charity stripe. He hits one of two and the Lakers end the quarters leading 29-26.

Looking forward, both teams are shooting well but the team that can raise its defensive intensity will have the upper hand. Hopefully, that'll be the Lakers.

Lakers-Utah Game 5 Count Down

The Lakers return to Los Angeles to face the Jazz for Game Five of their second round series in what figures to be the most important game of the playoffs so far for the boys in purple and gold.

The series sits at 2-2 but the Lakers have some formidable statistics on their side: only one team (Magic) has lost a game on its home court during the second round of the playoffs, and, even more favorable, Phil Jackson has never lost a playoff series in which his team has won the first game, which the Lakers did.

I'll be perched here blogging some observations at the end of each quarter. Feel free to join me for heavily biased commentary.

Defending Kobe’s MVP

Earlier today the NBA announced Kobe Bryant as the winner of the NBA's 2007-08 MVP award and I think I speak for most Lakers fans when I say it’s about freaking time.

Kobe gathered 1,105 points from the 126 sportswriters and broadcasters who sit on the MVP voting panel to best runner up Chris Paul who finished with 889 points.

The 216 point difference between KB24 and CP3 seems a little large for an MVP race that felt almost as controversial as a Democratic nomination election, but the contest looks more like a Huckebee beat down when you compare Kobe’s eighty-two first place votes to Chris Paul’s twenty-eight.

Despite this resounding win for Kobe, television and radio analysts harp repeatedly that Chris Paul was robbed. Now I agree that Chris Paul deserved serious consideration for the Maurice Podoloff Trophy but the main argument analysts fall back on – that Chris Paul did more with less help – is pure baloney.

First of all, Chris Paul has a fellow All-Star in his frontcourt in David West and a former three-time All-Star in the sharp-shooting Peja Stojakovic. Kobe Bryant? Nope, he doesn’t have a single other All-Star in the Forum Blue and Gold and the only former All-Star on the Lakers squad, Pau Gasol, played beside Kobe for barely a third of the season.

Furthermore, Kobe was the main constant on a squad that had few after losing Most Improved Player candidate Andrew Bynum to a season-ending knee injury midway through the year and adjusted his game to integrate Pau Gasol in the midst of the most competitive playoff race in NBA history. A race that the Lakers won, by the way. And lest we forget, a team can hardly do “more” than post the best record in its conference.

During that same period the Hornets also played well and finished second in the Western Conference, buoyed by the addition of Bonzi Wells, whose inclusion as a role player did not necessitate a dramatic change in Chris Paul’s style of play. No doubt CP3 and the Hornets also owe some of their success to the hardiness of their starting lineup, which avoided serious injury.

Obviously you can’t penalize Chris Paul for his good fortune in playing with another All-Star and a healthy supporting cast. But Kobe did more by leading his team to the better record and he also had less – fewer All-Stars and fewer healthy teammates. The MVP voting panel understood that the Chris Paul-does-more-with-less argument is phonier than a Hillary Clinton smile and that’s why Kobe received more first place votes – by a landslide.