After facing the Los Angeles Lakers in last year's Western Conference semifinals, the Jazz likely never expected they would get a rematch in the first round of the playoffs this year.
Yet the Jazz will open the playoffs in that unwelcome position -- trying to upset the top-seeded Lakers, who were so superior to the rest of the conference that they clinched its best record on March 27. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan admitted that the Lakers look at the Jazz as "a little dent in the road" on their way to a championship. The Jazz will enter the playoffs having dropped seven of their final nine games.
They had no answer for Kobe Bryant in last year's series and will have to contend with two 7-footers in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. The two combined for 42 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's victory.
The Jazz have dropped nine consecutive games to the Lakers at Staples Center -- including all three in last year's playoffs -- and struggled to a 15-26 road record this season, beating only one team (New Orleans) with a winning record.
Asked what gave him hope going into playoffs, guard Deron Williams said: "It's a new season. The regular season's over. It doesn't matter now. We've just got to try to steal a game here."
LAKERS 125, JAZZ 112: The Lakers broke open a one-point game with less than three minutes left in the third quarter and scored 125 points on 55.8 percent shooting against the Jazz even though Kobe Bryant accounted for only 16 of those points. Deron Williams tried to carry the Jazz with 25 points and 13 assists but couldn't do it all.
