Lakers - Jazz Game 3 Preview

By DOUG ALDEN, AP Sports WriterSALT LAKE CITY—Familiarity is little help to the Utah Jazz against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Jazz and Lakers are meeting for the third straight year in the Western Conference playoffs. And just like the previous two, the Lakers lead 2-0 as the series comes to Utah for two games that the Jazz know are crucial to any aspirations they have of knocking out the defending NBA champions.

“We’re down 0-2. We never want to be in that position,” Utah point guard Deron Williams said Friday. “We’re ready to get back out there and play.”

Both teams have had a few days to recover after the Lakers’ 111-103 win on Tuesday. Game 3 is Saturday night in Salt Lake City, where the Jazz seem to hold a home-court advantage against every team other than the Lakers. Los Angeles hasn’t gone winless in Utah since the 2004-05 season and added a playoff win here each of the last two years.

Of the few promising signs for the Jazz, one is they played better in Los Angeles in the first two games than they had in the last two playoff series. The Lakers opened the 2008 second-round series with two double-digit victories and did it again last year against Utah in the first round.

The Jazz actually held a lead late in the fourth quarter of Game 1 on Sunday before Kobe Bryant rallied the Lakers to the win. Utah forced 20 turnovers in Game 2 and got within four points in the final minutes despite playing without center Mehmet Okur (ruptured Achilles’ tendon) and forward Andrei Kirilenko (strained calf). For Utah on the road against the Lakers, that’s progress.

“We’re typically a different team at home. We had a chance to win those games in LA. We let opportunities slip away,” said Williams, named all-NBA second team on Thursday. “Now we’re back at home, looking to get these two games.”

Game 4 is Monday in Utah. Of the three possible scenarios the Jazz could face next week, only one would be good for Utah—win both games in Salt Lake City and even the series. If it’s a split, the Jazz will be facing elimination Wednesday in Los Angeles, where they have lost 16 straight counting regular season and playoff games. And if the Lakers win both, Utah’s season is over.

“We understand how hard they’re going to play in (Game 3), because they know if we win it, we can basically put away the series,” Lakers center Pau Gasol said.

Kirilenko said he has recovered from the left calf strain that has kept him out since March 26 and will play Saturday. That gives the Jazz at least a little help inside, where Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom towered over Utah in the first two games.

The Lakers have pulled down 101 rebounds and blocked 20 shots already in the series. Los Angeles has forced Utah outside and the Jazz’s shooting sputtered at just 42 percent in the first two games.
Utah coach Jerry Sloan was asked before practice Friday how he planned to counter the Lakers’ size advantage and Sloan was still considering his options.

“We could step on their toes. Maybe that would help,” Sloan said with a grin and chuckle. “Against this team you don’t always get inside. I don’t care who we’ve got to put inside, they’re still longer than we are and it makes it a situation where you’re playing right into their hands most of the time. We have to make some shots out on the floor.”

The Lakers practiced in Los Angeles on Friday before heading to Utah. While Game 3 is much more critical for the Jazz, the Lakers would like to avoid a repeat of the first round, when they led Oklahoma City 2-0 before the Thunder tied it with two wins at home. The Lakers went on to win in six games, but it was a longer series than it had to be.

Los Angeles is already halfway to clinching a third straight trip to the Western Conference finals and doesn’t want to risk letting the Jazz back in the series.

Utah’s offense hasn’t changed for decades, but when the Jazz are running it well and sharing the ball as they did in a 4-2 win over Denver in the opening round, it’s difficult to stop even when you know exactly what’s coming.

“Defensively, we pretty much know this team. I’m not saying they can’t throw us a curveball, but we know each other,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “This has been one of the best home-court teams in the NBA for years.”

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Lakers don't want to feel comfortable with a 2-0 lead against Utah

With a three-day lapse between Games 2 and 3 in the Lakers' Western Conference semifinals matchup with Utah, the scenario provided a perfect time for the Lakers to take a day off on Wednesday. After all, in this season of injuries, Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest could sure use the rest to heal up even if they have pledged to play through the pain.

Yet, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson has maintained a long-held fear that a day off from practice can lead to sluggishness the following day. Hence, Thursday's long practice, which mostly entailed work on transition defense and defensive rotations. And even with the Lakers being cautious with Bynum's lateral meniscus in his right knee, Bryant's sore right knee and Odom's sprained right knee and sore left shoulder, they all participated in practice.

"The day off is sometimes a disconnect," Jackson said, "and we just can't be disconnected during the playoffs."

The Lakers have a 2-0 lead against Utah heading into Game 3 Saturday, and they appear well on their way advancing past the Jazz rather easily for the third consecutive postseason. But there's plenty of reasons why Jackson and his team don't want to feel completely comfortable:

The Lakers had a 2-0 lead against Oklahoma City before allowing the Thunder to take two wins on their home court. The Lakers are 4-6 in their last 10 regular-season games at Salt Lake City's Energy Solutions Arena. In the last two playoff matchups, the Jazz took Game 3 in front of an electric and intense home crowd that's also partly responsible for a 32-9 regular-season home record. And Utah forward Andrei Kirilenko plans to play Saturday after missing 23 of the last 25 games because of a strained left calf muscle. Jackson described the versatile 6-foot-9 forward as "one of the most unique defenders in the league for his ability to block from behind and chasing guys on breaks." Kirilenko is expected to guard Kobe Bryant, and he says he's looking forward to the matchup.

But there are also plenty of reasons for the Lakers to like their chances. Though the Jazz didn't give up in Game 1 or Game 2, they have had no answer for the Lakers' size advantage in Bynum, Odom and Pau Gasol. Those three grabbed at least 10 rebounds apiece in Games 1 and 2, a feat that hasn't happened since the 1985 Portland team accomplished it in a playoff matchup against Dallas. Even before the day off, Bryant said his health has progressed tremendously, while Bynum hasn't appeared tentative while playing through an injury. And in their last meeting at Utah on Feb. 10, the Lakers coasted to a 96-81 victory without Bryant and Bynum in the lineup.

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Did Artest's Twitter feed criticize Lakers Coach Phil Jackson?

The Twitter feed for Lakers forward Ron Artest criticized Coach Phil Jackson with a series of dispatches late Thursday night, though Artest's brother claimed it was hacked.

The messages, or "Tweets," began at 9 p.m. with the unedited statement that, "Finally Phil Jackson didn't mention me in media before talking me Now I can build on game 2. Hopefully he talks to me before the media."
Then came the second dispatch, an hour later: “Ever since phil mention things about me in media before coming to me first I was weird. So every pray he can somehow close his yapper and now say AMEN.”The third post, an hour after the second one, said that: “Its just something that I have to get use to. He is a different stlye coach. Just bad timing during playoffs and midseason for me!!

“I think right now the team is improving so we just need to keep building or moving ahead or forward. Locking down etc....”

Artest's brother, Daniel, wrote on his own Twitter account a couple of hours later that, “Whoever hacked [Artest’s] twit page is foul.”

Jackson had been praising Artest's defense throughout the playoffs but said publicly last week that he wanted the Lakers' forward to reduce his number of three-point attempts and pass the ball more often.

Artest is shooting a dismal seven for 42 (16.7%) from three-point range in eight playoff games. The Lakers lead the Utah Jazz, 2-0, in a best-of-seven series that continues Saturday in Utah.

Artest's brother had another interesting post on Twitter at about 6 a.m. Friday. It took issue with the fact that Kobe Bryant was selected to the NBA's All-Defensive first team while Artest did not make first or second team, finishing 13th overall in the voting.

"I'm just gonna be honest real quick. Don't trip LA fans," Daniel Artest wrote on a series of unedited Tweets. "I mean. Ron was bought to LA to take pressure off Kobe. To guard the best scorers right. But Kobe makes 1st team.

"But all and all. I hope Ron takes this personally. I really do. He needs to D up with a chip on his shoulder for real. If the players voted we'd all know the real deal. Ron got snubbed."The 30 NBA head coaches voted for All-Defensive team.

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Jazz can't solve the Lakers

Utah has lost 16 consecutive road games to the Lakers and is on the verge of being eliminated by them for the third year in a row. But the Jazz denies any mental blocks.

Remember that ancient era when the Utah Jazz could not only win a playoff game on the road against the Lakers, but were expected to do so?

Yes, there was life before Staples Center, Lakers World Domination and the best-planned photo shoots gone awry.The last time the Jazz defeated the Lakers in Southern California in a playoff game was May 24, 1998 behind the efforts of the ageless Karl Malone and John Stockton. It happened to be the fourth game of a sweep in the Western Conference finals, coming at the Forum in Inglewood.It comes as a surprise to non-Californians that the aging Forum is still standing
And the Jazz? Barely.

When a team happens to be staring up a 16-game losing streak at Staples Center (factoring in regular-season and playoff games) self-belief would tend to come into question.Perhaps even in the form of a question: Have the Lakers managed to get into the heads of the Jazz? They are two games from eliminating Utah for the third time in the playoffs in three years.

It might seem a valid theory. But not when the coach sitting on the bench — or in this case, scowling on the sideline — happens to be Utah's Jerry Sloan.Jazz rookie guard Wesley Matthews dismissed the notion that the Lakers were the kind of team capable of penetrating a psyche."Psychobabble," he said. "This game is 90% mental. How you deal with adversity. How you deal with success. Calls, no calls. Shots, missed shots. Can you bounce back as a team, more importantly than as an individual?"Sloan, speaking generally, said it can occur."Oh I think some guys it happens to," he said. "I think it happens to some of the guys who maybe don't have a lot of experience and been in those situations."Playing styles and variety of weapons, coupled with Utah's injury woes, have added up to the Lakers' 2-0 lead in this series. Game 3 is on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

That Utah came within five points of the Lakers in Game 1 and refused to go away quietly in Game 2 is typical of a Sloan-coached team."They have some problems that they know they can't solve," TNT's Kenny Smith said in an interview. "I still think [the Jazz] have the belief they can win. I would imagine if you get to the second round and as tough as Jerry Sloan, is in terms of coaching, that they still have the belief."This team is mentally tough. They're just injured. Playoff basketball is only about matchups.

If you catch the right team with the right matchups, you can go a long way. If you catch the wrong team, a lot of times, you're going to get burned."Or scalded.The heat is rising after Utah's replacement center, Kyrylo Fesenko, has scored all of four points in two games. And the Jazz has been scrambling to compete against the Lakers, minus two starters, center Mehmet Okur and forward Andrei Kirilenko, although Kirilenko is expected to play Saturday.The correct assessment might be that the Lakers aren't into the heads of the Jazz but are over their heads.Supporting evidence 101:

Seven-footers Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, plus 6-foot-10 Lamar Odom have led the Lakers' dominance on the boards, outrebounding the Jazz, 101-78, in this series.Smith disagreed with his larger-than-life TNT colleague Charles Barkley, who suggested on the air, after Game 2, that the Jazz didn't think it could beat the Lakers."The Lakers weren't spectacular," Barkley said. "But just looking at [the Jazz] body language, I don't think they think they can beat the Lakers."Said Smith: "A few years there are teams that are just dominant over everyone. Those years are few and far. The Lakers are the closest thing this year. They can play a lot of different styles and be successful."TNT's Reggie Miller said earlier in the series that the Lakers were almost playing the Jazz like a yo-yo."They're capable of blowing anybody out if they're clicking on all cylinders and Kobe [Bryant] is hitting," Jazz reserve Kyle Korver said. "That's why they're the world champions, right? So you have that in the back of your mind but you can't give them too much credit."You can't stand there in awe by any means. I don't think we do that at all."

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Kobe Bryant selected to NBA All-Defensive team

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was selected to the NBA All-Defensive team for a 10th time, joining Orlando center Dwight Howard, Cleveland forward LeBron James, Charlotte forward Gerald Wallace and Boston guard Rajon Rondo.

The award was determined by a vote of the NBA's 30 head coaches.
Bryant, who averaged 1.6 steals a game, has been a first-team selection eight times in his career, including the last five seasons. He was a second-team selection in 2001 and 2002.

Lakers forward Ron Artest received some votes but not enough to make the second team, which consisted of San Antonio center-forward Tim Duncan, Atlanta forward Josh Smith, Cleveland forward Anderson Varejao, Miami guard Dwyane Wade and Oklahoma City guard Thabo Sefolosha.

Artest was 13th overall in the voting, receiving three first-team votes from coaches. Lakers forward Lamar Odom received one first-team vote and one second-team vote, while Pau Gasol received a second-team vote.

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Lakers defeat Jazz, 111-103, in Game 2

Kobe Bryant scores 30 points as Lakers take a 2-0 lead in the series.
 

Do the Lakers have the Jazz number at Staples Center? Well, yeah, pretty much.On Tuesday night the Lakers looked mostly impressive with strong inside play and great leadership and shooting by Kobe Bryant to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series with a 111-103 win.

It marks the Lakers' 16th consecutive victory over the Jazz at Staples Center.Certainly, any questions about Bryant's health were dashed with a 30 point performance, shooting 10 of 22 from the floor and 10 of 11 from the free-throw line. He also played 42 minutes, a lot for a player people thought needed some rest.But, Bryant will get plenty of off time as the next game isn't until Saturday in Salt Lake City.

Paul Gasol was also exceptional with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Andrew Bynum added 17 points and Ron Artest had 16.The Jazz got a good game from Paul Millsap (26 points) and C.J. Miles (20) and Carlos Boozer (20).With about three minutes to play the Lakers had still not completely put the game away with only a seven point lead with about three minutes to play.But Bryant hit a two and followed with a slam and it was clear the Laker lead would hold up over the last two minutes.

Not that the Jazz gave up closing it to six with less than a minute to play. Again, the Jazz had to foul Bryant and he put the final touches on the win with two free throws.-- John CherwaLakers 103, Jazz 96 (Fourth quarter, 2:55)The Lakers came out of the timeout with a turnover and C.J. Miles made a basket and once again the lead was only four.But Paul Millsap fouled Kobe Bryant and he made both stretching the lead back to six. Bryant was seven for seven from the line at that point.After a Jazz miss C.J. Miles fouled Bryant and there he was back at the line and he missed his first free throw of the evening but made the second and the lead was seven.The Jazz then lost a good opportunity when Carlos Boozer missed a slam and the Lakers were back at the line on the next trip down the court.

But Derek Fisher missed both shots but the Lakers kept things alive with two offensive rebounds before Ron Artest got the put back on the third shot.But Millsap made a quick bucket and the lead was at seven.-- John CherwaLakers 98, Jazz 92 (Fourth quarter, 5:34)The Lakers came out of the timeout with Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant both on the court and Lakers fans were feeling better.Paul Millsap got the lead to nine with a couple of free throws and then after a Jazz miss Gasol got the rebound to give him a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds).Carlos Boozer cut the lead to eight making one of two free throws and after a Millsap layup the lead was down to six. Nervous time?

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Lakers-Jazz Game 2 Preview

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Utah coach Jerry Sloan has watched Kobe Bryant’s playoff evolution from its inauspicious beginnings.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ star guard wouldn’t have become a peerless postseason finisher without his performance at the erstwhile Delta Center in 1997, when Bryant spectacularly failed to finish off the Jazz.
The 18-year-old rookie’s four infamous airballs late in the final game of that second-round playoff series in Salt Lake City only made Bryant tougher and more determined. Thirteen years later, the calculating veteran makes sure no lead over the Lakers is safe—certainly not the tenuous four-point lead Bryant erased Sunday with a few flicks of his wrist in Game 1 of the clubs’ latest playoff clash.

“You’re not going to stop Kobe Bryant at this point,” Sloan said Monday before practice at the Los Angeles Clippers’ Playa Vista training complex. “You can double him and try to make their big guys make a shot, but you just have to play a little harder and hope he’ll miss a few. … He’s learned a lot of tricks over the years, a lot of ways to score in a close game. It’s a tougher task to defend him than almost anybody.”
Bryant led Los Angeles to a 104-99 win with deceptive ease in the opener, scoring 11 points in the final four minutes. Game 2 is Tuesday night at Staples Center.

Back in 1997, the teenage Bryant—whose shaved head gave him more than a passing resemblance to slain rapper Tupac Shakur—first airballed a mid-range jumper that could have won Game 5 in regulation. Bryant then missed the rim on a 3-point attempt early in overtime before leaving another long jumper far short in the final minute.

He finished by with an airball on a potential tying 3-pointer, which bounced meekly out of bounds in the waning seconds to the delight of a jeering crowd. Coach Del Harris defiantly defended his decision to entrust the Lakers’ season to Bryant, saying the teenager already was his team’s top late-game performer.

Bryant’s finishing skills are well honed now, with his artistic knack for creating outside shots eluding nearly any defender’s best efforts. He won a half-dozen games for the Lakers this season on last-second baskets, and he didn’t even wait until the final seconds of Game 1 to finish off Utah.

After the Lakers’ practice in El Segundo on Monday, Bryant deflected praise for his late-game poise onto Los Angeles’ defense, which held the Jazz to one field goal in the final 4:10. Though Bryant must be responsible for most of the Lakers’ clutch scoring this season, he sees improvements in other areas for the defending champions.

“It’s a different team,” Bryant said. “We were much better offensively last year for whatever reason, but we’ve better defensively this year.”

Utah’s efforts to guard Bryant could get a boost if Andrei Kirilenko returns Tuesday from a strained left calf that has prevented him from playing a full game in nearly two months. The Russian forward’s wiry frame gives him a chance to stop Bryant, or at least force him to be more creative.

Kirilenko went through a full practice with the Jazz on Monday, and he estimated his chances of playing in Game 2 at “50-50.”

“He adds a lot of energy to their team,” Bryant said of Kirilenko. “He’s a very good passer and an emotional defender.”

Kirilenko also could give a boost to Utah’s low-post defense, which struggled against Lakers 7-footersPau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, who confirmed he’s putting off arthroscopic surgery on the small tear in the meniscus of his right knee until after the postseason.

Without Kirilenko and center Mehmet Okur, who’s out for the postseason, the Jazz didn’t have an inside presence to match the Lakers. Kyrylo Fesenko, the Ukrainian big man filling in for Okur, had just two points in 13 minutes while playing self-acknowledged inadequate defense.

“In the first half, I was kind of thinking, ‘Wow, I’m playing here against the Lakers,”’ Fesenko said. “I have a long way to go. I’m not happy with my game. I need to play tougher. I got a little soft in the last couple of games.”

While the Jazz changed their approach, the Lakers stuck to their usual between-games routine, honed by two straight runs to the NBA finals.

Los Angeles focused on getting a better effort out of its reserves, who gave away a lead early in the fourth quarter. Lamar Odom was particularly vocal about needing better communication among the Lakers’ bench players on defense.

“I just know we can play a lot better together, just using each other and playing off each other,” Odom said.

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