Scouting report
Utah Jazz
The Jazz set the game tone right at the start of the game. They played tough defense, aggressively harassing the Lakers, protecting the paint by roughing the Lakers’ big men, and controlling the board on both end. The Jazz outrebounded the Lakers 55-40, which is one of the main reasons why they won the game.
On offense, they executed perfectly. I didn’t see them running their famous pick-n-rolls much, but rather they had some good ball and player movement, breaking down the Lakers’ substandard defense, generating open looks both on the perimeter AND in the paint.
More importantly, despite being undersized, they were able to grab tons of offensive rebounds. All of them hustled for second chance. Good attitude.
Overall, the Jazz managed to play the grind-it-out type of slow paced game, which is definitely to their advantage. They also executed perfectly in the clutch time and were able to hang on with the 2-pt lead.
Deron Williams did not have his A-game today. His shots were off, worse is his FTs, an uncharacteristic 7-for-12. Well, he did come around before it’s too late and hit a clutch shot to win the game. As usual, he had 9 dimes and did a good job running the offense.
Carlos Boozer is a beast on the boards, 22 rebounds, including 5 offensive ones. He also scored as required, 22 pts, which was mainly from mid-range Js.
Ronnie Brewer scored some (12 pts), but what he contributed the most is playing in-your-face defense on Kobe, who obviously had an off night. He is clearly the unsung hero in this game.
Andrei Kirilenko was promoted to starter. However, he’s not the guy to finish the game. He made some early damage, but was largely invisible in Q4.
Jarron Collins… hmm… 7 mins, 1 reb, 1 stl, 1 pt.
It is their bench that won the game. Trailed by 60-68 after three quarters, the Jazz bench began a rally early in Q4. Again, the Lakers’ defense slipped a bit, which allowed Kyle Korver, Matt Harpring and C.J. Miles to hit consecutive outside shots as the Jazz eventually took back the lead at 73-72 with 9 mins to go. Harpring scored 8 pts during the run.
Paul Millsap did not start but he played a pivotal role in the last quarter. He flat out controlled the glass while protecting the paint. He even blocked Kobe’s J once! Millsap is the reason why the Jazz did not miss Okur in Game 3.
Korver was horrible in three quarters, passing out open shots, or missing shots badly. He’s defense is worse as ever. Well, Korver redeemed himself late in the game by hitting a few timely jumpers when the game was on the line.
L.A. Lakers
Facing Jazz’s suffocating defense, the Lakers shot badly (36.8% FG). They always settled for outside shots. Gone are the precise ball movement, as the Lakers relied heavily on iso, but they were not able to take any advantage when they called iso plays for guys like Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. The Lakers clearly was not comfortable playing with such a slow-paced game.
Right at the start of the game, the Lakers showed better defense. They were aggressive, and were quick on double-teaming guys like Boozer. However, they soon returned their old self. Poor baseline rotation resulted in a wide-open lane, as the Jazz repeatedly found open men in the paint for some easy layups. Andrew Bynum was ultra slow in defense, while Gasol always stayed too high and forgot to box out. Can’t imagine how the Lakers would survive when Mehmet Okur comes back, whose outside scoring ability will pull the Lakers’ big man further away from the paint.
I repeat, defense wins championship. I have the feeling that whenever they were down, instead of stopping the Jazz, the Lakers always tried to outscore the opponents. Maybe they could beat teams like Utah with such strategy, they are not going to win it all the way playing like that.
The only time when Lakers showed satisfactory performance is at the start of the 2H. They focused on closing down the lane, denying passing lines and challenging shots. In the first 3 mins of Q3, the Jazz missed 3 FG and committed 2 TO. With better ball movement, Kobe, Gasol and Trevor Ariza were able to have more open looks and started to hit the shots as the Lakers took a 10-1 run to take back the lead 49-44. They were able to maintain the lead as Ariza and Gasol continued to make shots. Too bad they let the Jazz come back in Q4 and eventually lost the game by 2.
Kobe settled for outside shots, as always. He particularly liked to fire (and miss) those tough, fade away jump shots. When he became aggressive attacking the basket, it was effective. He either made the layups, drew the fouls, or somehow his teammates scored. The Lakers is much easier to score when Kobe is attacking the basket. I don’t know why he did not do it more often.
Gasol scored 20 pts but hit just 4 of 10 FTs. They were lost by 2 pts, so go figure. Also, Gasol was not able to play acceptable defense. He remained as a sfot player after the tough Jazz big men.
Ariza was guarded by AK47 and was not as effective as in Game 2. He did hit 2 3-pters in Q3 when the Lakers began to build up their lead.
Derek Fisher had a silent game. His shots is off, he did not do a good job in distributing the ball, and he was outplayed by D-Will.
Bynum is clearly not 100%. He was very immobile and super slow in lateral movement. Though he made a few low post moves and scores, his defense was so bad that he either left his man wide open, or committed stupid fouls. He took his seat at the bench after committing his 5th foul with 1.30 min left in Q3! His total PT? 7 mins!
To me, Lamar Odom was the best player in the team. Not only he scored 21 pts, but he is the only Laker that cared about defense. He had 14 reb, including 5 offensive rebounds, which helped the Lakers to stay in the game.
This is how the Jazz won the game:
- After Boozer made 2 FTs to help the Jazz to take a 82-80 lead, Kobe penetrated and made a perfect dish to Odom for an easy layup. 82-82 1.07 min
- Next possession, D-Will and Boozer executed a perfect pick n roll with Boozer finishing with a tough layup. 84-82 Jazz. 47 sec
- The Jazz doubled-teamed Kobe at the corner, forcing him to call a 20 sec timeout. 30 sec. After the TO, Kobe drove at the baseline, getting past 3 defenders and hit a layup. Game tied at 84-84. 28.9 sec
- Boozer post up Gasol, then made a power move, driving past Gasol for a thunderous dunk. 86-84 Jazz. 16.9 sec
- This time, Kobe and Gasol made a perfect pick-n-roll as Gasol had a wide open running dunk. Tied at 86-86. 11.7 sec.
- Winning play: Deron Williams dribbled at the top of the key, shaking off Fisher, with a not-so-pretty crossover, the made a fade away jumper over a stretched Gasol. 88-86 Jazz. 2.2 sec.
- Kobe missed a 30-ft 3-pter badly. Game Utah
As you see above, the Jazz executed flawlessly in the closing minutes, scoring in 4 consecutive plays. On the other side, Kobe stepped up to make clutch plays, either scoring or setting up teammates. But they were not able to stop D-Will and Boozer when it matters. It is an impressive win by the Jazz. Give props to coach Jerry Sloan, who was able to play the game they want, and made perfect execution at clutch time.
Let’s see if the Jazz could be able to ride on this win and get another game in Salt Lake City on Saturday.
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