NBA Playoffs Round 2: Jazz 99 – Lakers 104

The moment I thought they had a chance.

After the first quarter, I have to admit I didn’t imagine good things for the rest of the game. The Lakers were getting anything they wanted and Kobe looked like he might put up 60. The quarter ended with the LA shooting nearly 80% from the field. Somehow the Jazz pulled a similar trick to what the Nuggets did in Game 6 in the first round: get dominated but somehow keep the score reasonable.

By the time the smoke cleared and the Lakers cooled off, the Jazz hung around and even took a 4-point lead with four minutes to go in the game. But then: Boozer gets pushed a few times and gives up the offensive rebound to Gasol and then Booz fouls him weakly on the put-back and allows the and-one. And then: CJ Miles tries to flop and leaves Kobe wide open for a jump shot and is additionally punished by the karma gods for the flop by being called for a mysterious foul while laying on his back. The free throw puts the Lakers up 94-93 and the Jazz crumbled.

On the upside, I was just glad to see the Jazz compete. I was worried that today’s game would be a beat down. Ronnie Price was the spark off the bench the Jazz needed. The second unit did a great job of getting the Jazz in the game and making it interesting.

I’ll have more to say about tonight’s game, but in the meantime, here’s Deron’s nasty dunk:

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ESPN recap

Forum Blue and Gold recap