Empty the Bench

Game Two: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Utah Jazz

Prelude

No Andrew Bynum? No problem. Pau Gasol’s vagina hurts again ankle is sprained? Don’t need him. This year, it seems that as long as #24 is healthy and in the lineup, beating the Lakers is no small task. Tied for the top seed in the West with a 46-21 record, the Lake Show got back in the win column against Dallas the other day after dropping two in a row (to the Hornets and Rockets, respectively). Ronny Turiaf has stepped up in Gasol’s absence, logging at least 29 minutes over these past three and lending his usual hustle and post-presence at all times. Lamar Odom is the team’s leading rebounder, however, and has pulled down 60 combined in the last five.

The Lakers are the league’s fourth-best road team (22-13), but they’ll need to be at the very top of their game to have a chance in Utah. The Jazz have been nearly unbeatable in Salt Lake City, where the crowd is vanilla-white, the noise is deafening, and the home team has rattled off 19 straight triumphs. They’ve dropped just three games in Salt Lake all year long and have quietly become the trendy pick to ultimately emerge out of the Western Conference playoff fray and advance to the NBA Finals. Jerry Sloan has them playing a high level of team basketball, while third-year PG Deron Williams has been simply amazing, recording at least 10 assists in 10 of the Jazz’s last 12 games, including 20 on March 3 against the Mavericks. If they can get home-court advantage for the first few rounds, they are going to be very, very tough to beat. Some lingering health concerns, though, with Mehmet Okur, Carlos Boozer, and Andrei Kirilenko.

In-Game Notes

- A lot is being made of the booing Lakers PG Derek Fisher received in Utah in his first game there this season. Fisher, of course, was a big part of the Jazz’s success last year, but asked to be let out of his contract in the summer so he could move to LA and get better health care for his daughter. Charles Barkley said Fisher “shouldn’t take it personally, and that of course they’re going to boo him. He’s playing for a rival—he could have went to Seattle. Or Milwaukee. Or Miami. But he went to the Lakers.” For his part, Fisher’s response is to open the game’s scoring with a three-pointer. Give him 5 points in the first 4 minutes.

- Early time out for Jerry Sloan and the Jazz after Lamar Odom’s three puts the Lakers up 18-7. So far the crowd is not a factor, but of course this opens the door for a dramatic 12-2 run led by two consecutive Kyle Korver three-pointers. Nothing gets the Jazz fans revved up like consecutive Kyle Korver threes.

- It’s all Lakers early, with a little four-point run by the Jazz still only cutting the lead down to 12. Obviously, it’s very early and the exact deficit isn’t that important. But. But. The Lakers are getting whatever they want right now on offense, a combination of crisp passing, solid picks, and good spacing. It won’t matter if the Jazz snap out of their offensive funk or not; if they don’t figure out how to get some stops on the other end, they’re going to lose by 10+. At the end of the first, Los Angeles leads by 20, a lead largely built on 75% shooting, but also on fantastic team defense. The Jazz are all sorts of, uh, out of sorts.

- TNT’s Mike Fratello tells a story about Mehmet Okur that I’ll paraphrase here: “You can see Mehmet Okur is short of breath, don’t forget he’s still suffering from a flu bug. He hasn’t eaten much, he still feels sick, and he’s got his whole family in town from Turkey, so his whole house is full and they’re all sick, so he’s just surrounded by sickness.” Great story, Mike. Just great.

- Utah is doing their best to keep this interesting; Okur’s second three of the game cuts the lead to 17, which has riled up the crowd and gotten the “Defense!” chants going. But though the Lakers have cooled off (a little) in the second quarter, they’re still getting open shots and still getting to the hole for layups or fouls. It’s scary how good this LA team can be when they’re clicking on all cylinders—and without Bynum and Gasol. Very, very scary.

Notes on the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers-Utah Jazz game after the jump. Oh, the drama!

- Korver is ice cold, starting 0-5 FG, and the Jazz have missed at least 5 or 6 layups and gimmes. With the lead at 18 and the end of the first half approaching, erratic offense and defensive schemes based on the path of least resistance are really doing in the home team. There’s still a few minutes left, however, and plenty of time to trim their deficit to 10 or less points. Causing more than 1 forced turnover would help.

- Mission… almost accomplished. Again, Ronnie Brewer of the Jazz misses a fastbreak layup that would have brought Utah to within 13. As it stands, the Lakers are still dominating at the break: Lakers 60, Jazz 45.

- Alright, something fishy is going on at TNT; I think they owe ETB a hat tip. It turns out the halftime “embarassing” footage of Mike Fratello the crew was hyping is the clip that my esteemed colleague, Mr. Thell, posted just this week. The timing is too much of a coincidence. I kept waiting for the “thanks to the guys at EmptyTheBench.com,” but it never came. And one single, solitary tear slowly trickled down my cheek.

- Ronny Turiaf always looks like he’s having a great time out there.

- I still don’t see the Jazz doing much of anything to take the Lakers out of their offense. Deron Williams is starting to awaken from his first-half slumber, and Boozer is getting in the paint and scoring, but just when it looks like Utah has gotten some momentum and is going to pull within single digits, Slalom Vlade hits a three from one corner then Derek Fisher hits one from the other. This Lakers lead is far from insurmountable with just under 18 minutes still to go, but it’s a steep, steep mountain to climb to be sure.

Deron Williams, Kobe Bryant Photo Credit: Icon SMI

- But if they do do it, it’s going to be because of a steal like that one from Kirilenko, a fastbreak layup such as that by Brewer, and scoop shots like that from Williams. That’s the thing about the Jazz (and Golden State Warriors, for that matter): once they get going, they can turn the tide as quickly as any team in the league. It’s now just an 11-point game with 4:35 on the third-quarter clock. All of the Jazz’s starters have now scored in double digits, but have only 2 steals and 0 blocks between them.

- Fratello says the Utah Jazz are the Detroit Pistons of the West. I can definitely see some similarities. To the credit of the Jazz they’ve actually had the Pistons’ number during the last few regular seasons, so you can certainly make the case that the two teams at least compare favorably to each other. As a Pistons fan, the Jazz are not a team I’d like them to see in the NBA Finals if they got there, that’s for sure.

- It’s down to 81-69 at the end of three. Utah is chipping away, and the next plateau they should aim for is to get it within 5 points with 5 minutes left. That’s not going so well though as another Turiaf bucket pushes the lead back up to 19 points with 9 minutes left.

- Take a deep breath, Utah, for that Deron Williams three-pointer is your last gasp. There’s still time (92-81 with 5:30 remaining), but it’s going to take defensive stops and that hasn’t consistently happened all night. A Boozer fadeaway on the baseline cuts it to 10, and the crowd is on its feet. Then wouldn’t you know it, Kobe “Please Sit Back Down Now” Bryant counters with a 22-footer.

- Kobe. Dunks. With. Emphasis! (I’ll find the video and add it later.)

- They kept the final score semi-respectable, but it just wasn’t meant to be tonight for the Jazz. The Lakers had an answer for every run the Jazz tried to mount, and Utah simply ran out of time. I’m not going to glean any kind of big picture opinion based on this convincing win by the Lakers. Given home-court advantage, I still think the Jazz are capable of beating LA in a seven-game series… even with Gasol and Bynum back in the lineup. (Admittedly, they’d have to play near-perfet basketball to get it done.) For the most part, the Jazz just didn’t have it tonight. It happens. Teams have bad games; it’s not always a big deal when they lose. Given the situation in the West, however, this does put a little more pressure on them to rebound on Saturday against the Seattle SuperSonics. Expect a blowout, in fact.

- Kobe is pacing around and popping his jersey. Jazz fans are throwing debris onto the court. Let’s get this over with before someone does something stupid… or as Reggie Miller might say, “stupider.”

Los Angeles Lakers 106, Utah Jazz 95

Check Out Part I: Boston Celtics at Dallas Mavericks