Lakers 111, Jazz 104
I couldn't figure it out on deadline, but the Jazz had five chances to take the lead in the second half of Game 5 and couldn't come through once. It would have made a huge difference for the Jazz just to take the lead once and put some pressure on the Lakers.
They were tied 69-69 in the third quarter after a Deron Williams' three-pointer with 7:38 left. Ronnie Brewer (1) traveled with the chance to put the Jazz in front and Mehmet Okur (2) missed a three-pointer after Vladimir Radmanovic clanked a jumper for the Lakers.
They were tied 73-73 after Carlos Boozer scored on the fast break off a nifty pass from Brewer. Kobe Bryant missed two free throws for the Lakers but Andrei Kirilenko (3) was blocked by Lamar Odom.
Paul Millsap grabbed the rebound but Brewer (3) missed a jumper - - it was incredible the amount Bryant free-lanced off Brewer on the defensive end, by the way - - and once again, the Jazz couldn't take the lead. I'm counting the block on Kirilenko and Brewer miss as one chance on the same possession.
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter. The Jazz trailed 84-83 but Okur (4) split two free throws when he could have given the Jazz the lead by making both. Luke Walton made 1 of 2 free throws for the Lakers but Williams (5) missed a layup.
Those are the five chances the Jazz had to take the lead in the second half. They missed all four shots they took, split two free throws and committed a turnover when it mattered most. If I forgot another chance - - it is almost 1:30 a.m. here in L.A. - - please let me know.
* * *
A sequence that killed the Jazz came in the middle of the fourth quarter, with the Lakers leading 92-88. They missed four consecutive shots - - a Kirilenko three-pointer, a Boozer shot in the lane, a Williams layup and another Boozer shot that was blocked.
The Lakers were able to build their lead out to six points after two Sasha Vujacic free throws. The Jazz fell into the penalty with 6:53 left and watched the Lakers shoot 16 free throws in the fourth quarter to seven for them.
The three-point plays by Jordan Farmar and Lamar Odom in the fourth quarter also were killers for the Jazz.
"I was a little upset that I got beat on the other end and [Williams] got straight to the basket," Farmar said, "so I just wanted to be aggressive. I was going to make a play, try to make something good happen, and it just worked out for me."
* * *
Some quotes from after the game that I couldn't get in the paper (tonight was a miserable deadline with the 8:47 p.m. MDT start and 2-hour, 42-minute long game.
"We liked Lamar [Odom], what he did out there," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "He gave us some big game and Pau [Gasol] had a couple of things happening for him. We got to the foul line in the fourth quarter, which helped us keep that lead of some sort.
"Our bench came in and gave us some productivity in the start of the fourth quarter that was a difference giving us a little separation."
Deron Williams said: "We haven't won here yet. That's the hump. We've took care of business at home. Now we've got to do it again and hopefully come back here for a Game 7 and get over that hump.
"I thought we had a better half than we had in the first two games and I think that gave us confidence to carry it over to the second half. We were in the ballgame all the way to the end, we just missed some shots. They made some better plays down the stretch and that's why they won the ball game."
Carlos Boozer on trying to defend Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom: "It's tough because sometimes you're helping so much on Kobe. Kobe did a great job, he only took 10 shots, and was very aggressive and getting the other guys involved. Sometimes you have to help on him and Lamar got an easy basket. Pau is a very good passer and Lamar definitely got busy tonight and so did Pau. We've got to do a better job on those guys, we've got to do a better job on keeping Kobe in front so we don't have to help as much but that's a tall task."
Lamar Odom: "I want to take it to the basket. Every game right now, I'm thinking I need three or four dunks. And it seems like when you dunk the ball, you get those foul calls. That's something we focused on as a team at shootaround. We want to take it to the hole as much as possible. Especially Pau and myself."
Kobe Bryant on his back: "I just wanted to pick my spots. I knew I wasn't 100 percent healthy, so I wanted to get us off to a good start, give us an emotional boost. In the third quarter, I had a moment where I was able to pick it up a little bit. In the fourth quarter, Lamar and Pau took it from there."
--Ross Siler
They were tied 69-69 in the third quarter after a Deron Williams' three-pointer with 7:38 left. Ronnie Brewer (1) traveled with the chance to put the Jazz in front and Mehmet Okur (2) missed a three-pointer after Vladimir Radmanovic clanked a jumper for the Lakers.
They were tied 73-73 after Carlos Boozer scored on the fast break off a nifty pass from Brewer. Kobe Bryant missed two free throws for the Lakers but Andrei Kirilenko (3) was blocked by Lamar Odom.
Paul Millsap grabbed the rebound but Brewer (3) missed a jumper - - it was incredible the amount Bryant free-lanced off Brewer on the defensive end, by the way - - and once again, the Jazz couldn't take the lead. I'm counting the block on Kirilenko and Brewer miss as one chance on the same possession.
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter. The Jazz trailed 84-83 but Okur (4) split two free throws when he could have given the Jazz the lead by making both. Luke Walton made 1 of 2 free throws for the Lakers but Williams (5) missed a layup.
Those are the five chances the Jazz had to take the lead in the second half. They missed all four shots they took, split two free throws and committed a turnover when it mattered most. If I forgot another chance - - it is almost 1:30 a.m. here in L.A. - - please let me know.
* * *
A sequence that killed the Jazz came in the middle of the fourth quarter, with the Lakers leading 92-88. They missed four consecutive shots - - a Kirilenko three-pointer, a Boozer shot in the lane, a Williams layup and another Boozer shot that was blocked.
The Lakers were able to build their lead out to six points after two Sasha Vujacic free throws. The Jazz fell into the penalty with 6:53 left and watched the Lakers shoot 16 free throws in the fourth quarter to seven for them.
The three-point plays by Jordan Farmar and Lamar Odom in the fourth quarter also were killers for the Jazz.
"I was a little upset that I got beat on the other end and [Williams] got straight to the basket," Farmar said, "so I just wanted to be aggressive. I was going to make a play, try to make something good happen, and it just worked out for me."
* * *
Some quotes from after the game that I couldn't get in the paper (tonight was a miserable deadline with the 8:47 p.m. MDT start and 2-hour, 42-minute long game.
"We liked Lamar [Odom], what he did out there," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "He gave us some big game and Pau [Gasol] had a couple of things happening for him. We got to the foul line in the fourth quarter, which helped us keep that lead of some sort.
"Our bench came in and gave us some productivity in the start of the fourth quarter that was a difference giving us a little separation."
Deron Williams said: "We haven't won here yet. That's the hump. We've took care of business at home. Now we've got to do it again and hopefully come back here for a Game 7 and get over that hump.
"I thought we had a better half than we had in the first two games and I think that gave us confidence to carry it over to the second half. We were in the ballgame all the way to the end, we just missed some shots. They made some better plays down the stretch and that's why they won the ball game."
Carlos Boozer on trying to defend Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom: "It's tough because sometimes you're helping so much on Kobe. Kobe did a great job, he only took 10 shots, and was very aggressive and getting the other guys involved. Sometimes you have to help on him and Lamar got an easy basket. Pau is a very good passer and Lamar definitely got busy tonight and so did Pau. We've got to do a better job on those guys, we've got to do a better job on keeping Kobe in front so we don't have to help as much but that's a tall task."
Lamar Odom: "I want to take it to the basket. Every game right now, I'm thinking I need three or four dunks. And it seems like when you dunk the ball, you get those foul calls. That's something we focused on as a team at shootaround. We want to take it to the hole as much as possible. Especially Pau and myself."
Kobe Bryant on his back: "I just wanted to pick my spots. I knew I wasn't 100 percent healthy, so I wanted to get us off to a good start, give us an emotional boost. In the third quarter, I had a moment where I was able to pick it up a little bit. In the fourth quarter, Lamar and Pau took it from there."
--Ross Siler
2:32 AM
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9 Comments:
Ross,
Do know what else killed the Jazz in the middle of the fourth quarter? The NBA's mandate to the officials to get the Lakers in the finals.
Every time a Jazz player breathed near a Laker, a foul was call. Odom's dunk? You've got to be kidding me. Gasol running over people, pushing people in the back, etc.
It was clear the officials were trying to create a small lead for the Lakers in the middle of the 4th quarter when the game was tied or within 1 or 2 points. This was an attempt to make it seem less obvious than if every call went the Lakers' way in the last 2 minutes. But come on, every single time for quite a stretch in the middle of the 4th when the Lakers took a shot, a foul was always called. It was ridiculous. It was the NBA up to its old tricks.
Boozer, that has to be the worst excuse for the matador defense you played tonight. You and Memo do not have to help on Kobe. Let him take that jump shot. The odds are a hell of a lot better than a slam dunk by Odom.
Boozer lets face it, you forgot how to go up a guys chest for a layup, forgot how to not rush a shot, and you never knew how to play a lick of defense. You are not playing like an all-star since you played in that charade.
By saying Boozer and Memo don't have to help on Kobe, I mean at the same time. There were multiple times both guys came on the help. Its time to make a defensive adjustment and make sure these guys know their roles.
Even though the Jazz lost, I was impressed by their play. Sometimes it looks like two Goliaths (relatively) with their bigs versus our bigs. I feel like we're playing with house money now, since we've won two games in this series. But maybe I'm just saying that to lessen the blow if the Jazz lose the series.
Also, what if they called a foul on Pau when he shoved Memo for that putback? Not saying it was necessarily a bad non-call, but an example of how much power referees have in the outcome of games.
hey everyone,
im a laker fan here, and i'll admit it, some of the calls last night were suspect. the and1 for odom on his dunk, i didnt see anything. (though watch the replay and you'll see okur flop like crazy on pau's last ORedb). but i also felt like the jazz got a lot of calls like that in Utah. I don't think its a bias to help the Lakers, i think the a bias for the hometeam. Seems like the officiating in this series has favored the style of whoever is playing at home. I wish they would just be consistent.
by the way, Ross, come back to LA, you were the best we had!
Ross and Steve,
Jazz played solid in that fourth quarter. And in the second-half for that matter. They ran some nice sets (I got chills on a couple of them). They made good on tactics when the oppurtunity showed itself; "buddy passes" in the paint by Brewer and D. Williams come to mind - you gotta love it. Or how about Kirilenko's shot-fake on Odom (only after he saw/observed Odom be jumpy and leave his feet on the first head-fake) that led to an uncontested layup. They came out and limited thier TO's to only three in the second half (15 in first, 18 overall). They out-rebounded them, they shot the rock okay. They banged through their sets, never going through the motions as so many NBAers do (which is what I love about them). I give them Big Ups, they played hard even though they were - clearly - a man down..
It upsets me to hear you guys say that the Jazz had chances to take the lead but didn't - they should not have even been in that game in the first place!! It was five on six, powers were at play, the refs were not even close on some of those calls. They were not even close, period. TiVo it. And there were many of them all concentrated in the span of the last 12 min.
Now, I know you guys have to keep it respectable being professional writers. I don't expect you to scream conspiracy or write a 95 thesis. But how do you turnaround and highlight the Jazz's missed oppurtunities when they played one hell of a second-half? Most teams would have gotten blown out.
Battere, for the most part the refs were fine. The Jazz had plenty of opportunities to take the lead though. It doesn't mean they would have kept it, but it would have put pressure on the Lakers.
The only call that bugged me was the no-call on the Pau Gasol running over of Matt Harpring when the game was still in the 80s. They call that a charge and its a different game.
I'm a Lakers fan and I think the Jazz are very good team. The thing about the fouls, home teams are always going to get the benifit of doubt so you can't complain about it. How do you think the Jazz get so many rebounds? The play physical and to a point that you can call numerous pushing and over-the-back fouls but that would disrupt the flow of the game. They're pretty much evenly match teams but L.A has the best player in the league and that's the difference. The Lakers as well had a chance to win in Utah but didn't and that what having home court advantage is about... Good luck Lakers.
Yea Lakers got some calls but Boozer has got to step up and stop getting outplayed by Odom and Pau. He needs to use his strength more and out muscle those guys instead of trying to shoot jumpers over guys who are longer than he is. I hope this series goes 7 cause watching Deron and Kobe is amazing.
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