Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals tips off at 3:30 Eastern on ABC. For further reading, check out our Lakers blog, Silver Screen and Roll, and our Jazz blog, SLC Dunk.
Game 1, 3:30 P.M.: Jazz Meet Lakers In Second Round
Preview courtesy of Sports Network.
It’s rare that an NBA team breathes a sigh of relief when they move on in the postseason to face a club that, on paper, should be a tougher matchup.
The defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, however, are likely thrilled to have the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder in the rear view mirror as they get ready to battle the playoff-tested Utah Jazz in the Western Conference semifinals.
The young and talented Thunder gave LA fits in the opening round but Pau Gasol's putback off a Kobe Bryant miss with half a second remaining in Game 6, lifted the Lakers into the second round with a 95-94 win in Oklahoma City.
The Lakers had blown a seven-point lead with 4 1/2 minutes left, but then came back from a three-point deficit to take the series.
"There's still a ways to go for this team to really rally together, to have the one-minded effort that I like to call it," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "I thought we got out of sync in the second half. Fortunately we won this game. It's something I will really talk to them about."
The Thunder had already won twice on their home court and nearly a third time against the defending champs, but Gasol, with his dominant inside play, pushed the Lakers into round two against Utah.
“I had a good look, but it just didn’t go down for me,” Bryant said. “Pau just kept playing. He’s done that numerous times. Obviously, it saved the game for us.”
The Jazz, meanwhile, finished off Northwest Division rival Denver in six games Friday night despite being without two starters, Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko, for the majority of the set.
Foul trouble and injuries played a significant role in the series-clinching victory for Utah, a game in which rookie Wesley Matthews stepped up and scored 23 points for the Jazz.
"I'm terribly excited about the way these guys played, the effort they put in to win a ball game," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "We started off this series and were in tough position because we lost two guys (Okur and Kirilenko) who couldn't play. But the guys came in and played in their place and I thought did a terrific job."
Utah point guard Deron Williams, who was the star of the series, bruised his left elbow in the closing seconds of the clincher when he went down after a collision with Denver forward Chris Andersen. The All-Star is expected to be able to go against the Lakers when the series starts in LA on Sunday.
“I’ll be alright,” Williams said.
Kirilenko, who missed 15 of the Jazz’s final 17 regular season games and the entire Denver series with a host of calf injuries, has been rehabbing and is getting closer but was listed as doubtful for Game 1.
“I’m feeling better and better,” Kirilenko told the Salt Lake City News. “[My] endurance is getting better. I can survive way more time on the floor without getting my calf tired, so I feel like it’s going in the right direction, better and better.”
Okur, meanwhile, is done for the entire postseason after suffering a ruptured left Achilles' in Game 1 vs. the Nuggets.
For the Lakers, oft-injured center Andrew Bynum is questionable for Game 1 after an MRI exam Saturday revealed a small tear in the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus.
Bynum, who averaged 12.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks during LA’s first-round win over Oklahoma City, aggravated the injury with a hyperextension of the knee during Game 6 and experienced a similar setback last June, but played through it.
The Lakers beat the Jazz in three of the four meetings during this regular season. It will be the third straight year the teams will meet in the playoffs. The Lakers beat Utah in five games in the first round last year and in 2008, LA prevailed in six games in the conference semifinals.
“Obviously, we’ve had a lot of trouble with the Lakers, everybody knows that,” Sloan said. “They’re big and long and we’re not very big and long when it’s all said and done. But you come and play and do the best you can.”
The Jazz will trying to avoid becoming the 14th team in NBA history to be eliminated by the same team in three consecutive playoffs. To do that, Utah will have to find a way to win at Staples Center. The Jazz have dropped 14 consecutive games to the Lakers in Hollywood, including all six in the 2008 and 2009 playoffs.
"We're a much better team than what we were," Utah forward Paul Millsap said. "We look forward to it being different this time, a different outcome."
Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Tuesday in Los Angeles.
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