Fish commits his sixth foul with 28.5 left to play and is out of the game.
Kobe has been clutching his back and getting assistance from Gary Vitti at every timeout. It’s obviously limiting the way he attacks the hoop and the way that Kirilenko is able to hang with him.
There are things I love about Jerry Sloan. Him going berserk after calls is second on the list just above his press conferences and behind the fact that he drives a pickup truck with one of those giant metal tool boxes in the back and leaves the arena 18 minutes after the final buzzer sounds like he’s got a cement job that has to be done before rain hits.
Sasha does it again. You never know when the other team is going to do something stupid and elbow the guy, but it happens every game. The way he’s been up on Korver I’m surprised it took this long.
4th Quarter
Williams goes for a 20-footer that is blocked by Fish, just finishing up a MASSIVE 10-point fourth quarter for the veteran point man. OT on the way.
Kobe misses the contested lay-up but Odom rips his 13th board of the day and puts it home to tie it back up with 4.6 left. Utah takes their final timeout to diagram the final play of the game and advance the ball to halfcourt.
Lotta chances for the Lakers between the 33 second and 8 second mark, but nothing falls. Still Lakers ball down 108-106 with 7.8 left. A triple would rip the heart out of this state. Getting nothing evens the series as we head back to LA.
A Lamar Odom three ties the game for the first time since the 2 minute mark in the first. I never trust Lamar’s outside shot, but god bless it when it falls.
The Lakers are collapsing the paint and still managing to recover enough to cover their men, but Deron Williams just made a ridiculous shot. You can’t guard it any better than that.
The tide is turning in the building after a Kobe And-One cuts the Jazz lead to a single point with 1:25 left.
Fish another trey. All that rest in the first half is paying off as he’s got 15-points in 18 second half minutes. 102-98 Utah with 2:42 left.
Bad time for a technical on Okur… if you’re a Utah fan. Sloan is also on the verge of getting a T as he continues to berate the officiating crew.
Fish keeps the Jazz lead from getting out of hand with back-to-back triples. 102-94.
Four minutes after entering the game the Lakers starters (sans Vlad after an ineffective 14-minutes) have cut the Jazz lead from 10 to 8. Boozer returns in place of Milsap after an extended breather. 96-88 Utah.
An unbelievable block by Ronnie Price sends Luke tumbling and doesn’t allow for the easy two the Lakers deserved on that trip.
It’s a 10-point Utah lead at 90-80 with 9:04 left as the starters are reinserted to close the game out. Pau should be able to abuse Milsap on the offensive end.
LA has also committed four team fouls in the first three minutes of the quarter, creating a situation where the Jazz might be shooting free throws very early in this quarter. That’s not a recipe for a comeback.
2.5 minutes into the quarter and the Jazz have pushed a four point lead to nine while the MVP is on the bench.
DJ Mbenga makes his first appearance of the game, teaming with Luke, Jordan, Sasha and Lamar. DJ will be matched up with Okur, I dont think he’s used to playing that far away from the basket.
3rd Quarter
The Lakers have only turned the ball over seven times, a much more manageable number than their Game 3 total, but they’ve only converted nine Jazz turnovers into four points.
The Jazz won the first quarter by 10. The Lakers countered by winning the second quarter by 10. Utah took that quarter 24-20. Hardly any foul shots that quarter. The Lakers took the only two.
It was nice to have Derek Fisher back in the game.
Bryant is looking to post up Brewer every time he can. The Lakers are also overloading the opposite side and using cuts down the middle of the paint to keep the double team from coming over early enough to help.
Kobe’s looking to impose his will here after banging back-to-back 17-footers in Brewer’s face. 69-67 Jazz.
Boozer and Okur definitely got a talking to from Jerry Sloan at the half, they have the first eight points for the Jazz. Vladi gets a talking to from Lamar about the defense. Odom has been playing a much bigger leadership role today than he normally shows on the floor.
Halftime
LA only shot 6 of 13 from the line in the second quarter and are 7/17 total (that’s a smooth 41%) in the first half. They haven’t played all that well and shot terribly from the line and are still all up in it.
I’ll take anything from Derek Fisher in the second half, but I’d love to see him help out with Williams on the defensive end. DWill is killing the Lakers.
Kobe tore up the second quarter and finished the half with 17 after Gasol controlled the first quarter with 10 points.
Okur & Boozer have been invisible for the Jazz. 5 points total. I haven’t missed the PA guy’s patented “Money” callout whenever Memo makes a three.
2nd Quarter
The Lakers head into the half tied at 55 after a buzzer beater by Kobe. How the Jazz allow him to stand one-on-one with Brewer at the free throw line is beyond me. Are they that worried about Pau Gasol’s 75-footer that they’d let the MVP hang out ten feet from the basket with only one guy on him?
It looks like Luke jammed the thumb on his non-shooting hand as he was jostling for position in the paint with Korver. Lucky for him the ref blew the whistle later in the possession as the shot clock was winding down with the ball in Luke’s hands. He wanted nothing to do with taking that shot.
Walton checks in for Farmar leaving Kobe and Sasha as the primary ball handlers. This isn’t as much of a problem as it would be for some teams because of Lamar’s ability to run it up too. It also makes the Lakers lineup very tall with Kobe as the shortest guy in a purple jersey.
Sasha has taken a lot of flack from his teammates about his hair this year. If you’ve been at STAPLES you might have seen the video of Jordan saying “He looks like my man from High School Musical”. Well that dude’s sitting courtside tonight along with some of his other cast mates. Sports imitating art or something like that. Whatever, they both look ridiculous.
6:14 and the Lakers will shoot free throws for every foul till the end of the quarter. They’ve already attempted seven as they’ve attacked the teeth of the defense much more this quarter. Unfortunately they’ve only made two of those seven. Gasol doesn’t help the average much by only converting one of two this time.
Sasha is (trying to) work the ref at every oppotunity, which in the past is something that has actually caused him to get less calls. Lamar recognizes this and tells #18 to cool it.
At 8:31 left Fisher picks up the third personal that should anchor him to the bench after playing just three minutes this half. Farmar didn’t fare too well in his first tour of duty, scary situation for the Lakers at the point.
With Ronny out for the duration and Fish, Vlad & Pau with two fouls, Phil might be forced to get creative with his substitutions. Right now it’s the starting lineup with Sasha in Radman’s spot, but we’ll definitely get a dose of Mbenga at some point and maybe even some Newble(?).
Hard foul by Turiaf on Ronnie Price after the whistle had blown to indicate a foul on Sasha. The crowd is out of their minds. Jerry Sloan popped off the bench all the way to the free throw line and after the refs huddle they toss Ronny from the ballgame. I can’t help but feel that Price’s slight stature the blood that started pouring out of his right side had a lot to do with that one because he really wasn’t hit that hard. More tied up than anything. If he doesn’t start bleeding no way does Ronny get tossed. Still that’s a tough blow for the thin front line of the Lakers.
The Machine made his first trey.
Gasol comes back in after a three minute break and moves Ronny over to the four in the process. They’re joined by Farmar, Walton, and Vujacic. Sasha is dealing with an injured big toe that kept him up most of Friday night and limited him in practice yesterday. Someone making a shot from the outside would greatly help this club after an 0-5 from deep in the first.
1st Quarter
Okay well that’s a quick 31-21 lead for the home team. The Lakers attempted 29 shots to the Jazz’s 20, but still managed to make one less. The big disparity in the quarter came at the free throw line where Utah carried an 11-4 advantage in attempts. The Jazz also got 10 of their points on fast break points, that’s about what they averaged in each of the first two games total.
The Jazz have come out and been extremely active through the first six minutes, getting to the rack with ease and throwing down a couple of Williams to Brewer alley-oops. For the Lakers, Pau Gasol has come out looking stronger than in the previous game (there really wasn’t a way for him to come out softer), he’s got a look on his face that I’ve only seen him use in the 4th qarter. We’re gonna see a jersey pop out of him today, I’m sure of it.
Vladimir Radmanovic starts out cold and is replaced by Walton at the 6:40 mark. It’s been a tough series for Vlad and while Walton has played well in lieu of the Serbian’s effort, the Lakers could really use Radman’s deep ball to help space the floor for the big men.
Fish again picks up two quick fouls in the opening two minutes of the game and Jordan Farmar is asked to come in to relieve him. Jordan threw up a stinker on Friday night, the team can’t afford another outing like that today.
Pre-Game
Something I noticed last game but failed to include is that spots on the bench are a precious commodity. The STAPLES Center bench is put to a minimum in order to see more courtside seats, but here at Energy Solutions it’s ridiculous. The water jug is down the tunnel and poor Coby Karl doesn’t even have a place to sit. He had to spend Game 3 watching the game from the locker room.
The Jazz dropped a couple thousand balloons during their pre-game introduction causing the arena to sound like the 4th of July as the players came onto the court as everyone popped the balloons that fell on them.
It’s Utah’s first Sunday home game since the 2001 playoffs and even their owner is staying away because of the religious observance. The place isn’t as packed as it was Friday night. There are a lot of lower level seats that aren’t filled (a fact exaggerated by the seats being green). The crowd is still raucous even in smaller numbers.
FROM LAKERS.com
