What Went Right:
What Went Wrong:
On a night when Kobe Bryant received the top individual award in the sport–the Most Valuable Player Award–his team shined, using a balanced effort to knock off the Jazz 120-110 to go ahead 2-0 in their best of seven series.
The newly crowned MVP scored 34 points in addition to pulling down eight rebounds and dishing out six assists. After the game, Kobe said that his team was “excited” to head into Salt Lake City with a two game lead in the series, crediting the rhythm the Lakers established heading into the postseason.
Coach Jackson praised the Lakers’ fast start, using the energy of a gold-clad STAPLES Center crowd, obviously amped up after Bryant received his MVP award prior to tip-off.
“We got off to a great start,” said Jackson. “The energy of the crowd and Kobe’s night gave us a real quick start. I just didn’t think we played well the second quarter, and they kind of carried the ball from there on out the rest of the game. They kept attacking and we were able to manage point for point, but we were never able to gather momentum in the second half.”
Inactives for Tonight’s Game:
Jazz: Almond Morris, Kyrylo Fresenko
Lakers: Coby Karl, Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza
1st Quarter:
12:00 Kobe gets a raucous standing ovation from the gold-clad crowd after receiving his first MVP award from NBA Commissioner David Stern. After thanking the crowd, Kobe screamed, “Let’s get this party started!”
10:57 The Lakers hit their first two shots of the game, the first a near three pointer by Fisher and the second, a jumper by Radmanovic that hits nothing but net. It’s only been a minute, but the Lakers look focused and ready to play, easing any initial concerns about a hangover effect from the pre-game MVP ceremony.
9:11 Mr. MVP hits his second consecutive shot to open the game, the first on a driving reverse layup and the second on one of his signature fadeaway jumpers. The STAPLES Center is buzzing early–much more so than they were in Game 1. Kobe is tied with Lamar for the early lead in scoring with four.
Before tonight’s game against the Jazz, Coach Jackson said that injured centered Andrew Bynum saw a specialist today, but the prognosis was essentially the same as it was a few weeks ago.
Bynum has seen slight improvement in his injured knee and will wait another three to four weeks before determining his next course of action.
If there is no improvement, Andrew will likely undergo arthroscopic surgery on the knee.
As a coach who has been on the sidelines while three of his players–Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and now, Kobe Bryant–have been crowned MVP, Jackson said before tonight’s game that he does not believe his team’s focus will waver despite Bryant’s pre-game MVP ceremony.
“No, I don’t think it’s going to affect us,” said Jackson, revealing that the Lakers know that they need to protect their home court by winning tonight. Jackson described his mood as apprehensive heading into tonight’s Game 2, but not because he has a lack of confidence in his team’s ability to come out ready to battle after Kobe receives his MVP trophy. “Utah may come out and play better than us tonight,” said Jackson.
“We’re more than ready to play,” Jackson said, citing the long break between Sunday’s Game 1 and today’s Game 2.
“It’s a recognition that he didn’t think was ever going to happen for him,” Jackson said, noting that Kobe’s award can be attributed to both his individual success and that of the team during the regular season.
“Familiarity brings some kind of contempt,” said Jackson, possibly providing one reason for why #24 has never been voted MVP before this season.
What Went Right:
• Newly crowned league MVP Kobe Bryant showed why he is more than worthy of receiving the award, busting the Jazz for 38 Game 1 points on an efficient 8-16 shooting from the floor.
• Luke Walton was a huge X-Factor in the Lakers’ sweep of the Denver Nuggets and it looks like Sasha Vujacic could play a similar role for L.A. in this series after scoring 15 points on 4-6 shooting to ignite the Lakers off the bench.
• As was the case all series against the Nuggets, the Lakers received excellent secondary contributions from Pau Gasol (18 points, 10 rebounds) and from Lamar Odom (16 points, rebounds), the latter of whom rebounded from a statistically sub par First Round Series.
• The Lakers demoralized the Jazz by their continued ability to get to the free throw line, making 38-46 overall, compared to only 30 attempts for Utah. Bryant alone made an all-time Lakers high 21-23 free throws.
• L.A.’s defense was on point from the opening tip until the closing buzzer, holding one of the league’s most patient, precise offenses to just 38% shooting from the field and even worse 21% from behind the three point line in 19 attempts.
• Although much of the pre-series talk centered on the Lakers’ game plan against one of the best point guards in the game in Deron Wlliams, the purple and gold responded by holding the Jazz guard to 14 points on a poor 5-18 shooting from the field.
What Went Wrong:
• Okur dominated the matchup at center against Gasol, muscling his way to a game-high 19 rebounds to go along with 21 points.
• Andrei Kirilenko’s defensive prowess was on full display in Game 1 as the lanky forward blocked five Lakers shots to go along with two steals.
• The Jazz manhandled the Lakers on the boards, outrebounding them by a whopping 58-41 margin, including 25 to eight in offensive rebounds alone.
After the Jazz went 37-4 during the regular season at Energy Solutions Arena–with one of the losses coming at the hands of L.A.–the Lakers are grateful they have home court advantage in the series, but welcome the challenge of playing in front of one of the toughest crowds in the NBA.
“I think in terms of their personnel, they play really well on their home court…I think that the energy that’s in the building, the fans are excited, the players are really excited,” said Derek Fisher, who spent last season as a member of Utah’s Western Conference Finals runner-up squad.
“At times, I think their intensity in their building is one that isn’t equaled or matched anywhere else. I don’t think it’s the altitude or anything else, I just think that the Jazz play at an intensity on their home floor that’s different sometimes from any other place. It’s always been that way for as far as I can remember.”
Coach Jackson–well accustomed to the Salt Lake City crowd from his days with the Bulls–said, “The energy they play with, the crowd sits on top of the floor, it’s as noisy as any place you’ve ever been in. It energizes the team, it intimates referees who go in there to referee the games. It’s tough—it’s a tough environment to win in.”
After battling an illness that limited him to just 13 minutes in Game 1 against the Jazz, Lakers forward Luke Walton is finally returning to health.
“I think he’s starting to look like he’s coming around, he’s starting to look pretty good,” said Coach Jacksom after today’s practice. “He didn’t feel well on Sunday, but he played anyway and I thought he helped us and he didn’t feel that well yesterday and he sat out practice. Today, he was on the floor.”
When asked whether or not he would be on top shape for tomorrow night’s game, Walton said, “I hope so. I practiced today and I was feeling good for a while, but then I kind of hit a wall. But I’m hoping that if I feel better tomorrow, I’ll be able to get back and play some real minutes.
Walton said that while he expects to play, the amount of minutes he’ll spend on the floor will likely be a game-time decision depending on how his body is feeling.
After spending last season with the Utah Jazz, veteran guard Derek Fisher’s expertise on Jerry Sloan’s system was the talk of practice today amongst his Lakers teammates, even if the guard himself downplayed its value.
“I guess it can be helpful, just in terms of some overall thoughts and things that I know that Jerry and the coaching staff feel strongly about in terms of what the Jazz like to do,” said Fisher. “But, I think that’s about as far as it goes.”
“The game is such one of reaction and being able to make decisions in a split second’s time that it’s hard for it to become bigger than what it is than just information for guys at times when it can be useful. I don’t know how much it’s going to be helpful as the series goes on.”
Coach Jackson said that while Fisher’s time with the Jazz will certainly help provide the team with an enhanced understanding of Utah’s players, his role as a leader on a team full of younger players is of equal importance.
Continue reading ‘Fisher’s Time With Jazz a Boon for Lakers’
You win or you lose, it’s that simple. Staying focused on the other hand is the battle all NBA Players involved with the NBA Playoffs have to fight. After a long 82 game season you must suck up all the bumps and bruises if you want to be remembered as a “Champion.”
“You don’t look ahead in the playoffs; you concentrate on the game that is in front of you.” Derek Fisher said.
That is the battle of staying focused for 48 minutes, it is hard, but the team that gets past that mental block is the team that usually comes out victorious. “It’s tough to sustain the effort and intensity that you need to play in a high intensity playoff game. So we had some ups and downs but we weathered the storm, got the win and now we will prepare ourselves for Wednesday night,” Fisher added.
With a few days before game 2 the Lakers are resting up and focusing on what they need to do in order to beat Utah to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
“We didn’t have our best game, but at the same time we are satisfied by the win, and encouraged about the fact we can play so much better,” said Pau Gasol.
A good sign for Lakers Fans is that this team is focused and ready to make a deep run in the playoffs.
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