It can’t be this easy, can it?
Lakers up 2-0 vs. Utah, and NBA history indicates something like 94 percent of all teams that take a 2-0 lead go on to win a best-of-seven series. It’s not over, but it’s close.
They defeated the Utah Jazz 120-110 tonight, and it never really felt in doubt, after the first few minutes. The Lakers seemed to be up 10 points nearly the entirety of prime time tonight. You could have switched over to watch a couple innings of the Angels and nothing much would have changed by the time you came back.
Kobe Bryant accepted the MVP trophy from NBA commissioner David Stern just before the game, Derek Fisher swished a long jumper a few minutes later, and the Lakers hardly looked back.
They should close out this thing in five games, I’m thinking. Unless Utah can answer a whole bunch of questions by tipoff for Game 3, on Friday night.
To wit:
1. Can any Jazzman guard Kobe Bryant? OK, we know it’s never easy, but the Jazz seems particularly incapable of finding someone to go one-on-one with the Mamba. Ronnie Brewer gets most of the time, and most of the burn marks. Andrei Kirilenko has taken some turns, but he would need a real AK-47 to stop Kobe. Even Kyle Korver tried took a whack at KB24, in Game 1, and you want to talk about ugly …
Kobe scored 38 and 34 in the first two games. He made 11-of-18 shots tonight, 11-of-12 free throws, and he seemed to be able to score almost at will.
2. Can Carlos Boozer escape his funk before it’s too late? The Jazz’s putative star big man managed only 10 points and five rebounds tonight, in part because he got in early foul trouble and played less than 25 minutes. In part because he went limp from then on. Fouls? Or is his spirit broken? He was a 20-and-10 guy in the regular season, one of only four such guys in the league, but he hasn’t scored more than 20 since April 14.
The Lakers guarded him with willowy Pau Gasol, and gave him very little help. And it turned out fine, obviously, which isn’t supposed to happen if the Jazz is going to win.
Jazz guard Deron Williams on Boozer’s struggles: “That’s 20 points a game out of our lineup. It’s tough. Boozer, he knows he’s got to do a better job of trying to stay out of foul trouble so he can stay on the court and be effective for us.”
3. Can Utah’s home court be enough to get them back in the series? The Jazz was 37-4 at home during the regular season, but one of the defeats was to the Lakers … and that was before Gasol joined Phil’s Kids.
“We believe we can beat this team,” Jazz forward Paul Millsap said. “We’re going back home and we know our crowd is going to be in it. We just got to get up on our game.”
Game started late and finished late, thanks to TNT. (And is it just me, or does Charles Barkley of late look completely disinterested in his analyst job? Or maybe he’s up past his bedtime?) Lakers fans were never very much into things; their excitement seemed to begin and end with Kobe’s acceptance of the MVP trophy.
I predicted a couple of weeks ago that the Lakers would NOT win a title. But they have six of the 16 victories they need. I’m sure the four against (presumably) New Orleans and Boston will come much harder.
But these guys have been impressive so far. A nice inside-outside balance, a variety of shooters. And Kobe Bryant, when all else fails.
Oh, and I’m here tonight … because I free-lanced a Jazz sidebar for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City. I wrote about Boozer. Presumably, it can be seen at deseretnews.com
3 responses so far ↓
1 DPope // May 8, 2008 at 7:21 AM
Boozer looked sheepish in his post-game interview. Like, “Sorry about all those fouls, guys. We’ll get them NEXT time.”
And is there anyone more intense than Jerry Sloan during a game? The dude is grinding his teeth nonstop.
2 George Alfano // May 8, 2008 at 9:18 AM
One thing I noticed was that the Jazz really held their heads down. That isn’t a good sign. I remember when I was an SID at a college, we lost the first game on the road of a best-of-three series. Our baseball coach told our team to hold their heads up all the way to the bus.
3 Damian // May 8, 2008 at 2:55 PM
I love LA. The Jazz doesn’t.
Paul — Welcome to the bright, prodigious world of freelancing. Where you’re your own boss (again for you) and can cover anything you want to and don’t have to toil in affairs of a fish wrap’s management (which is a frequent subject here). Let’s hear it for the stringers!!
How to explain Boozer’s shortcomings and dearth of playoff success? Easy. He went to Duke, where no player learns anything adaptive to the NBA game from ‘Rat Krzyzewski.’ Boozer is a representative of Duke. Vastly overhyped and overrated, with talent translating into nothing to do with winning big games.
When was the last time Duke won a title, in spite of the multitude of prep All-American classes and blue-chip recruits they get every year? All Duke does is get anywhere from a 1-3 seed in the NCAAs and lose in the 2nd or 3rd round; not even close to reaching the Final 4.
When was the last time a Duke player featured prominently on an NBA title team? How about never. The only Duke guys that have amounted to anything in the NBA — Boozer, Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Shane Battier — all left early. Grant Hill is the exception, only because leaving early for the NBA was not that popular a move back then, a move only reserved for the bonafide, can’t miss college-to-NBA superstars. The lesson here is to get away from the Rat as quickly as you can before he corrupts your game into the 3-point shooting, no-concept-of-team-defense style that those underachievers run over there and turns you into a soft player.
So if you want to win and make something of your NBA career, don’t go to Duke. Ask Danny Ferry, Bobby Hurley, Chrissy Laettner and Jay Williams, among the other many busts.
Thank God the Rat turned down Kupchak’s offer to coach the Lakers before Phil came back. Kupchak is not exactly Jerry West.
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