Empty the Bench

As long as the Los Angeles Lakers survive through the 2008 NBA playoffs, Empty the Bench’s West Coast correspondent Christopher Thell will be submitting a local fan’s take on his beloved Lakers postseason trials, tribulations and successes. In this edition the Lakers looked rusty and out of sync, dropping Game 3 to Utah.

Lucky number 7 it certainly wasn’t. After storming to six straight playoff wins, the Lakers lost a frustrating affair in Salt Lake City 104-99.

In a reversal of Games 1 and 2, which both saw the hot-shooting Lakers jump out to double digit half-time leads, the Jazz used a strong second quarter to take a 9 point half-time advantage (53-42) – a lead they never relinquished.

The Lakers got as close as 95-92 with just over three minutes left in the game when Derek Fisher, the team’s best free throw shooter, went 1-2 from the charity stripe. That miss, when both were really needed, was symbolic of the Lakers entire evening. The Purple and Gold was simply out of sync, looking nothing like the polished machine that controlled Game 2.

Further autopsy of the lifeless Lakers after the jump…

The Lakers ball movement was terrible (they notched only 14 assists total as a team), they rarely got easy looks, and they compounded that by being extremely careless with the ball, committing 18 costly turnovers that led to 22 Utah points.

Lamar Odom (13 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist) and Pau Gasol (12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 5 turnovers) both took giant steps backward from their strong performances in Game 2. Gasol and Odom looked soft inside, part of the reason Carlos Boozer carved the Lakers up for 27 points and a playoff career high 20 rebounds. Gasol was putrid in the 2nd quarter, when he turned the ball over four times and missed two layups, helping Utah mount their insurmountable half-time lead.

The bench also didn’t give the Lakers their usual lift, as Jordan Farmar was not only abused by Deron Williams, but shot 0-6, to go along with an 0-3 performance by Sasha Vujacic.

Thank the gods that Kobe at least came to play. True, he forced some shots, but then, he had to. He finished with 34 points on 10-20 shooting from the field (14-17 from the line), with 6 rebounds and 7 assists.

With a little under five minutes left in the game, Kobe split a double team by passing the ball to himself off the backboard for the dunk – a highlight-reel play that brought the Lakers within six, 92-86.

Of course, after making the first and missing the second free throw, Boozer managed to grab his own rebound and score to make it a 9 point game again, 95-86. It was that kind of night for the Lakers. The little things, like boxing out the free throw shooter and taking care of the basketball, were neglected by LA all game.

The question is, faced with their first postseason adversity, how will the Lakers respond? Unlike the fragile debutantes that compromise the Denver Nuggets roster, Utah clearly isn’t going to roll over, although when the Lakers play well they are the better team. I predicted in Volume 4 that the Lakers would need all 7 games to polish off the Jazz on the notion that neither team would lose at home.

That prediction still stands.

More Postcards From LA:

Postcards From LA, Vol. 1

Postcards From LA, Vol. 2

Postcards From LA, Vol. 3

Postcards From LA, Vol. 4

Postcards From LA, Vol. 5

Postcards From LA, Vol. 6

Tags: Postcards from LA, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher