Jazz played pretty well on Saturday, BUT... News Utah Jazz

Game Time: Lakers 108, Jazz 94

Despite the lopsided score, the Jazz certainly had a lot going for them.

In the first half, their disciplined offense and willingness to always make the extra pass produced an abundance of scoring opportunities. BUT, in the second half, the Lakers defenders began to aggressively stick their fast hands into passing lanes and also to challenge every catch.

All game long, Utah's weak-to-strong side cutters were open — especially Andrei Kirilenko. BUT the Jazz missed numerous semi-complicated layups — three by Carlos Boozer; two each by Kirilenko, Paul Millsap and Ronnie Brewer; and one by Deron Williams. That's a total of 20 highly makeable points that never showed up on the scoreboard.

Even though the book on Carlos Boozer is not to let him drive left, he still managed to take his left hand to the hole six times and thereby totaled ten of his 23 points. BUT, when he was forced right, Boozer missed three layups, committed a turnover, and shot a blank from 18 feet.

Utah's interior screens initially flummoxed the Lakers defense on a routine basis. BUT the visitors began to get the knack of switching, then recovering, and also attacking every subsequent dribble in the paint.

Andrew Bynum's six minutes of daylight were a disaster. Indeed, rather than resuming the pivotal dominance he'd routinely exhibited befoe suffering his latest injury, he played like the most raw, most confused rookie the NBA has ever seen. BUT Mehmet Okur was even worse in his return to action.

2009 NBA playoffs

Saturday's games

Hornets 95, Nuggets 93 (Nuggets 2-1)
Spurs 99, Mavericks 90 (Mavs 3-1)
Heat 107, Hawks 78 (Heat 2-1)
Lakers 108, Jazz 94 (Lakers 3-1)

Friday's games

Cavaliers 79, Pistons 68 (Cavs 3-0)
Sixers 96, Magic 94 (Sixers 2-1)
Rockets 86, Blazers 83 (Rockets 2-1)

FOXSports.com analysis

Playoff results, schedule
2009 NBA Playoff Central
Rosen: Blazers need to adjust
Hench: 5 stars for future Finals
Rosen: Celtics play like champs

Video

Highlights: Thursday's games

Photos

Friday's action | Thursday

None of Lamar Odom's attempted jumpers found the mark — and each of them was shot in too much of a hurry. BUT Odom finally figured out that he could easily take either Boozer or Millsap off the dribble. Moreover Odom's passes were on target (six assists), and he rebounded (15) like the ball was a lamb chop and he was a hungry wolf

Deron Williams ran Utah's offense with aplomb, concentrating more on passing (12 assists) then on scoring. BUT when he was compelled to look for his own points, Williams shot a measly 6-14.

Boozer recorded 16 powerhouse rebounds, five assists, three steals, one block, and 23 points. BUT he also had five costly turnovers, and on defense was unable to cope with Pau Gasol's quick spins.

Luke Walton, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Sasha Vujacic, and Shannon Brown were all guilty of turning their respective heads on defense — thereby permitting the Jazz to score five uncontested layups. BUT the Jazz failed to press this advantage by executing more backdoor cuts.

Kobe Bryant completely ignored Ronnie Brewer when Utah had possession, yet Brewer knocked down half of the four jumpers he attempted. BUT Kobe simply destroyed Brewer's usually staunch defense.

Whereas in Game 3, Kobe looked to initiate his scoring opportunities from the perimeter — either from straightaway or from one of the wings — he gave Brewer and the Jazz a different look in Game 4. Assuming either a deep- or mid-post position on (mostly) the right side of the court, Kobe was able to swing baseline and launch turnaround jumpers to avoid any incoming double-teamers. In addition, his mojo was certainly working from long distance.

For the game, Bryant's 38 points came on 16-of-24 shooting overall. Even more impressive, however, was Kobe's making 14-of-20 shots longer than 15 feet — some of them being nothing less than miracle-makes. And he came out of the chute with fire in his eyes — hitting his first five shots and scoring LA's first eleven points.

Kobe's stellar performance was partly a function of his brilliant talents only because the lethal sharpness of his competitive edge is always his primary motivation. In fact, the only member of the Lakers family whose will to win matches Kobe's is Phil Jackson — as evidenced in this particular game by the way in which PJ got into Odom's face for some slack play late in the fourth quarter despite the Lakers overwhelming lead.

In sum, a great team beat a good team — and will again on Monday in L.A. One reason why the Lakers qualify in the former category is because they have a dynamic go-to scorer.

BUT the one overwhelming reason why the Jazz are merely good — despite the considerable skills of Williams and the lefty-leaning forcefulness of Boozer — is that they lack a super-duper-star like D-Wade, LBJ, or better yet, Kobe Bryant.