Pregame Chatter:
Before we tip off, let’s begin our Lakers-Jazz running diary with the most important NBA question one could ask: “Who’s winning the title this season?”
And no, I’m not just asking myself, because my content wingman Ty Nowell - call him Ty, Tymon, Tyson or C-Wing - is sitting next to me just a row up from center court in between the benches. Anyway … Ty, who will it be?
“Did you see Sun Yue’s suit??? Look how shiny it is!”
He’s not wrong, but let’s get focused.
“The Lakers,” came his answer, implying that I’d be silly to think otherwise. Having just arrived from Minnesota, I’m waiting a week to watch the team in action before making that claim. However, I will say that the Spurs and Rockets scare me the most in terms of challenging the defending Western Conference champs, even more so than the Celtics.
In other news, I’m going out on a limb to suggest that the 11-year-old girl handling National Anthem duties is going to kill the song. And she’s off - and she’s amazing. Crowd loving her.
First Quarter
After an extremely warm welcome, Pau Gasol won the tip, starting at center with Andrew Bynum on the bench. Joining Gasol in the starting five are Derek Fisher, Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odom and Bryant.
Early on, the refs are attempting to show why they’re here (in their opinion, at least), whistling the Lakers for four fouls in the first three minutes, all defensively in the paint. Buckets from Gasol, Fisher and Ariza put L.A. up 6-2, though Utah would go on a mini-run to tie things at 10 on a nasty C.J. Miles (not to be confused with C.J. Giles on the Laker roster) dunk. The biggest ovation of the night thus far came moments later when Bynum checked in for his first action since January 19 against Memphis (thanks Ty for that stat).
Bynum decided to showcase his worked-upon jumper from the free-throw line extended immediately, getting the roll off the front rim and glass. Ty informs that last season, Bynum wasn’t taking that shot too often in games, in part because he was busy dunking on people. In related news, Bynum is the opposite of small. A minute later, Bynum put up a soft turnaround jumper from the baseline - KG like - for his fourth point.
Wait a second. More Bynum. This time a turnaround jumper from the free-throw line, plus the harm and the free throw. Seven points, two minutes. On the other end, Utah hasn’t seen the rim in a while…
Vladimir Radmonovic is the next Laker off the bench, staying in with Fish, Kobe, Bynum and Ariza. The game plan since Bynum checked in has been to repeatedly feed him the rock on the block, thus nine points at the two-minute mark. Mehmet Okur, Jarron Collins and Paul Millsap find themselves collectively flustered with the big kid. After consulting with Ty, we figured that the last time we saw such fluster was on the face of “Real World” Tanya when she first realized she was going to get the boot from “The Island” in the first episode. “Every year,” said Tyson.
26-19 Lakers after one.
Second Quarter
Chris Mihm, Jordan Farmar, Coby Karl, Vlad and Bynum started the second quarter for the guys in yellow. Now, if you have to remember one thing from the first quarter, it’s that Bynum looked fantastic. I think that’s the number one thing fans were eager to see, would you agree?
OK folks, here’s your first-quarter stat update from Ty:
- Bryant had zero points and four assists in 12 minutes, missing his only two shots.
- Bynum took six shots in seven minutes.
- The Lakers outrebounded the Jazz 14-4 (editor’s Captain Obvious note: that’s a good way to win basketball games)
- L.A. amassed nine turnovers, somewhat evening out the rebounding margin, as Utah got 20 shots up to 16 for L.A.
- Note: Sasha Vujacic (ankle) isn’t playing.
While Ty was giving me that info, I was singing “Shaking That A*s”, which was blaring from the Honda Center speakers. “I see you baby … shaking that a*s … shaking that a*s.” I mean, is that allowed in California arenas? None of the housewives seemed to mind…
Score was 33-27 at the 7:26 mark when Kirilenko hucked up an airball that wasn’t even close, subsequently looking at his hands like Maria Sharapova looks at her racket strings after a missed shot. Random thought: Ty, who is the most overrated player in the NBA?
“Carlos Boozer. He’s the one guy on the Olympic team that I questioned.” Not unfair, though I’d go with LeBron James. He is terrible. If he could only get to the hoop through four defenders and finish, guard five positions, pass wherever he wanted and climb on the glass, he’d be OK.
Josh Powell in the game. He’s my guy … Watch him be better than Ronny Turiaf, and not as similar as some have stated in recent weeks. The undrafted fifth-year player out of N.C. State (he was in the LeBron draft class) plays with a mean streak on the glass, has a soft jumper and loves doing dirty work. Wait … Did I just describe Turiaf?? Whatever, Powell is my P.J. Brown for L.A. this year. Admittedly, I’m not qualified to make that statement, as Ty yelled at me while reading over my shoulder. “Dollar for dollar, maybe.”
The halftime score, 42-40 Lakers, suggested that while L.A. dominated, it also turned the ball over a ridiculous 15 times to just five for Utah.
Third Quarter:
Kobe’s first absurdly difficult and-1 of the year came at the 8:49 mark of the third, as No. 24 double-clutched in the lane, got hammered and muscled a high-arching leaner through the rim for his second bucket of the game. The pace has slowed a bit, as neither team has been particularly active on defense, no great surprise in the preseason.
The next player to convert a difficult 1-on-1 move heading to the hole wasn’t Bryant, Odom or Fisher, but Bynum, who took Okur off the bounce and finished with his left hand near the goal. Slick. That’s 11 points for the kid, plus four boards.
Something you might not have caught watching or listening to the game was a nice interchange between Bryant and Odom after Kobe tried to feed Mr. Rhode Island when he could have easily finished himself at the rim. Odom, not expecting the dish, threw up a weak leaner after being hammered, and stayed in the floor as he and Bryant shared a chuckle. The play made me think of an NFL player high-stepping to the end zone before unexpectedly lateraling the ball to a trailing teammate just there to block.
Ty’s stat update from the first half:
- Everyone that checked into the game for the Lakers played more than Gasol, except for Brandon Heath.
- Josh Powell led the team in rebounds with five, including the only two offensive boards, in 8:21 of burn (editor’s note: see!).
- 15 TOs in a half is not good, especially when they lead to 13 Jazz points.
- The Lakers shot 75 percent in the first quarter, and finished 18-of-31 for the half (58.1 percent).
Ariza, advertised as a terrific defender, produced his most prominent example of elite D when leaping to swat an Ashton Kutcher jumper. Kutcher, also known as Kyle Korver, has a very quick release, to boot.
Other than that, L.A.’s defense left much to be desired in the third quarter, as the Jazz built a 76-69 lead behind 11 points in the period from D-Will, who didn’t score on two shots in the first half. Sidenote: Kobe’s still getting MVP chants when he goes to the free throw line. To be fair, Bryant did gamble in attempting a steal as time ran out in the quarter, and Utah punished him in the form of Morris Almond (thanks Ty, I thought it was CJ Miles). If you were a great basketball mind, you’d know that Almond is in his third year out of Rice.
Fourth Quarter
More Ty stats:
- Bryant played exactly 24 minutes (the entire first and third quarters), as expected. Bynum logged 18:09 of burn.
- The Jazz had 12 assists in the quarter and scored 37 points. In related news, the Lakers played token defense in the period.
- Deron Williams was the force for the musicians, with 11 points and five dimes in the quarter. He was 4-of-4 from the field, 2-of-3 from the line, plus the former Illinois guard grabbed a board and stole a pass without turning the ball over. That’s the greatest preseason fantasy quarter in a while, isn’t it?
- L.A. was outscored by Utah 36-22 in the paint through three. L.A. was also 0-for-5 from behind the arc in the quarter.
Lamar and Korver are the only guys non-Laker/Jazz fans would recognize on the floor at the 7:47 mark. Maybe Farmar and Mihm. However, Bynum returned a few minutes later, and L.A. continued to force-feed the beast. Perhaps it’s too simple to say that the sole focus of this game was to see exactly where Andrew Bynum stood, but at times it sure seemed like it. And the answer? Quite positive.
Still, in easily the worst and least entertaining quarter of the game, the Jazz scrubs outlasted the Laker end-of-benchers, emerging from Anaheim with a meaningless 99-90 victory. Here’s guessing that last year’s playoff loss wasn’t exactly avenged or anything. Alas, stay tuned for plenty of analysis of L.A.’s first preseason action in the coming days, right here on Lakers.com.
P.S. Ty says bye.
