Jazz 123, Lakers 115
As part of his MVP season, Kobe Bryant played all 82 regular-season games, so I wouldn't be too concerned about him missing Game 5 Wednesday. That said, the No. 1 question leading up to the game has to be the condition of his back.
Bryant said he twisted his back on a turnaround jumper on the game's second possession Sunday. He had his back wrapped and struggled to get up from the floor at times when he got caught wrong. In the fourth quarter and overtime, Bryant shot 2-for-13.
It took at least 40 minutes after the game for Bryant, who was receiving treatment, to arrive in the interview room. When he did, they spared him from having to sit, so Bryant answered questions in his white jacket while standing with a microphone.
I did a search on Kobe Bryant and back spasms after the game, just to see what the history was in the time I covered the Lakers. It turned up nothing, so I'm thinking this is relatively new ground. But Bryant has been a fast healer regardless of injury.
What's most amazing is that a Lakers team that opened the playoffs 6-0, with Bryant talking about the Hollywood ending of a championship to his MVP season, all of a sudden finds itself in a best-of-three series with the Jazz.
The Jazz have to find a way to win at Staples Center, where they're 3-16 all-time against the Lakers and 0-4 this year, but the biggest obstacle in Games 1 and 2 seemed to be their slow starts. If they can fix that, who knows?
* * *
The fourth quarter and overtime will dominate all stories from Sunday's game, but it's worth mentioning a little about the first and second quarters. First of all, three minutes into the game, the crowd at EnergySolutions Arena might have been the loudest I've heard.
The Jazz nearly blew away the Lakers in the first quarter, with Deron Williams serving up alley-oop dunks to Ronnie Brewer. Williams was brilliant all game, especially late in the fourth quarter when he tightroped to avoid a backcourt violation and buried a 20-footer.
Williams also buried three three-pointers in the second quarter, evoking memories of Game 6 against Houston. Yet somehow the Lakers were able to go into halftime tied 55-55 after trailing by as many as 11 points in the quarter.
They closed the half on a 19-8 run, with Bryant scoring nine of those points. His back didn't seem to be bothering him when he caught Luke Walton's full-court inbounds pass and hit a fadeaway 18-footer over Ronnie Brewer at the buzzer.
It was a terrible first half for the most part for the Lakers. Derek Fisher played 3:38 because of foul trouble, Ronny Turiaf was ejected, Vladimir Radmanovic and Jordan Farmar were ineffective, and the team missed free throws galore.
* * *
There was a lot of talk after the game about whether Mehmet Okur deserved the technical foul that Eddie F. Rush gave him with 2:54 left in the fourth quarter. It came after Okur was called for a foul reaching to strip Pau Gasol in the post.
Okur punched the air in frustration and Rush whistled the technical. It's one of the NBA's points of emphasis this season that players are not allowed to do that in the direction of referees. There's also supposed to be discretion given in the heat of the moment.
Rush was in Okur's vicinity when he made the gesture, but I'm not sure Okur was looking at him. I think it was probably the wrong call at the wrong time. But Okur redeemed himself in overtime with those two jumpers and said afterward that the technical was fair.
"I deserved it, by the way," said Okur, who rivaled Jerry Sloan for technicals this season. "I shouldn't have done that, really. But things happen. I really [overreact] a little bit and I was able to bounce back after the call."
* * *
Williams said the Jazz ran the same play four straight times in overtime with the Lakers so committed to stopping Carlos Boozer. They took advantage in getting the two Okur jumpers plus Andrei Kirilenko's dunk as part of a three-point play.
"They were worried about the pick-and-roll and stuff with Boozer," Sloan said, "and Memo got a couple shots out of it."
"They came up and helped on me a little bit," Williams added, "and I saw A.K. going back door, so I just dumped it off to him. He did a great job of going up strong and finishing with a dunk."
* * *
How in the world do four guys in Lakers jerseys wind up sitting courtside for Sunday's game? Just asking. The Jazz will put Game 6 tickets on sale Tuesday morning at 10, available through all the usual outlets plus the arena box office.
--Ross Siler
Bryant said he twisted his back on a turnaround jumper on the game's second possession Sunday. He had his back wrapped and struggled to get up from the floor at times when he got caught wrong. In the fourth quarter and overtime, Bryant shot 2-for-13.
It took at least 40 minutes after the game for Bryant, who was receiving treatment, to arrive in the interview room. When he did, they spared him from having to sit, so Bryant answered questions in his white jacket while standing with a microphone.
I did a search on Kobe Bryant and back spasms after the game, just to see what the history was in the time I covered the Lakers. It turned up nothing, so I'm thinking this is relatively new ground. But Bryant has been a fast healer regardless of injury.
What's most amazing is that a Lakers team that opened the playoffs 6-0, with Bryant talking about the Hollywood ending of a championship to his MVP season, all of a sudden finds itself in a best-of-three series with the Jazz.
The Jazz have to find a way to win at Staples Center, where they're 3-16 all-time against the Lakers and 0-4 this year, but the biggest obstacle in Games 1 and 2 seemed to be their slow starts. If they can fix that, who knows?
* * *
The fourth quarter and overtime will dominate all stories from Sunday's game, but it's worth mentioning a little about the first and second quarters. First of all, three minutes into the game, the crowd at EnergySolutions Arena might have been the loudest I've heard.
The Jazz nearly blew away the Lakers in the first quarter, with Deron Williams serving up alley-oop dunks to Ronnie Brewer. Williams was brilliant all game, especially late in the fourth quarter when he tightroped to avoid a backcourt violation and buried a 20-footer.
Williams also buried three three-pointers in the second quarter, evoking memories of Game 6 against Houston. Yet somehow the Lakers were able to go into halftime tied 55-55 after trailing by as many as 11 points in the quarter.
They closed the half on a 19-8 run, with Bryant scoring nine of those points. His back didn't seem to be bothering him when he caught Luke Walton's full-court inbounds pass and hit a fadeaway 18-footer over Ronnie Brewer at the buzzer.
It was a terrible first half for the most part for the Lakers. Derek Fisher played 3:38 because of foul trouble, Ronny Turiaf was ejected, Vladimir Radmanovic and Jordan Farmar were ineffective, and the team missed free throws galore.
* * *
There was a lot of talk after the game about whether Mehmet Okur deserved the technical foul that Eddie F. Rush gave him with 2:54 left in the fourth quarter. It came after Okur was called for a foul reaching to strip Pau Gasol in the post.
Okur punched the air in frustration and Rush whistled the technical. It's one of the NBA's points of emphasis this season that players are not allowed to do that in the direction of referees. There's also supposed to be discretion given in the heat of the moment.
Rush was in Okur's vicinity when he made the gesture, but I'm not sure Okur was looking at him. I think it was probably the wrong call at the wrong time. But Okur redeemed himself in overtime with those two jumpers and said afterward that the technical was fair.
"I deserved it, by the way," said Okur, who rivaled Jerry Sloan for technicals this season. "I shouldn't have done that, really. But things happen. I really [overreact] a little bit and I was able to bounce back after the call."
* * *
Williams said the Jazz ran the same play four straight times in overtime with the Lakers so committed to stopping Carlos Boozer. They took advantage in getting the two Okur jumpers plus Andrei Kirilenko's dunk as part of a three-point play.
"They were worried about the pick-and-roll and stuff with Boozer," Sloan said, "and Memo got a couple shots out of it."
"They came up and helped on me a little bit," Williams added, "and I saw A.K. going back door, so I just dumped it off to him. He did a great job of going up strong and finishing with a dunk."
* * *
How in the world do four guys in Lakers jerseys wind up sitting courtside for Sunday's game? Just asking. The Jazz will put Game 6 tickets on sale Tuesday morning at 10, available through all the usual outlets plus the arena box office.
--Ross Siler
10:57 PM
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2 Comments:
Why is the focus on the flagrant foul based on the hit itself only, and it's rarely mentioned by others than D-Will that it happened after a whistle? Shouldn't somebody ask Turiaf heard the whistle? And what was the whistle for anyway?
What drove me nuts about the Okur T was watching Gasol on the other end. He was gesticulating and screaming after every call and non-call, with no reaction from the officials. Somebody needs to tell Pau he's not a soccer player.
-Jason
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