Welp theres another one..and another one!!! The Lakers claimed another victim tonite. They beat the undermanned Jazz tonite. If you look at this Jazz lineup and you see how the Lakers steam rolled Dallas last night you may say to your self " self..this game will be a cake walk". Welp of course our Lakers have to keep it interesting!. I for one had a feeling the Lakers would come out flat. They had a huge emotional win last night, the 6th man of the year Lamar Odum had the flu, a red eye flight to Utah, and they found out just hours before the game that Slugger....I mean Matt Barnes was suspended.Not to mention everyone who is anyone on the Jazz was injured. A shell of the team they used to be the Jazz are plagued with injuries. As Phil Jackson walked into Energy Solutions arena it had to be nostalgia. If things go as reported this will be his last time in this arena as a coach, and his first in this arena without Jerry Sloan. Just before tip off the Jazz were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs for only the 4th time in 28 seasons. I cant help but wonder if J Sloan had anything to do with that impressive streak.
Enough of that on to the game. The Lakers came out like they were still asleep on the plane. The Jazz came out fired up as any team does against the champs. They were getting every loose ball and fighting for every rebound. They simply out hustled the Lakers the whole first half. The 2nd unit was back to their old tricks. Dribbling too much around the perimeter, making bad passes, and not stopping anyone.Andrew Bynum was being double and triple teamed in the paint which would be fine if he was making his free throws.Al Jefferson was using Pau Gasol and Drew only had 1 rebound in the first half!!!! They were only shooting 39 % and at one point were down by 17. The Jazz were having their way with the Lakers. A Cinderella story if Ive ever saw one. That's when Joel Myers announced the Spurs lost AGAIN!! Just like that the starters came back in as if to say " that's our cue..lets go to work.....they did..and never looked back. They started locking down on defense and held the Jazz scoreless in the last 3 minutes of the 2nd quarter. The Lakers hit a surge and pulled to within 6 to close out the half.
The 3rd quarter looked a little better but not much. Drew had reached the 20 minute mark with no field goals. The Jazz defense was too much for him. The Lakers also continued to allow points in the paint. Doubling on the cutters.But slow and steady is how the Lakers began to work out the kinks, keep composure, and chip away at the lead. Mr Dependable D Fish pulled up for a 3 to tie the game with 4 minutes left in the 3rd. and the Lakers never looked back. Lamar Odum hit a 30 foot jumper to close out the quarter putting the Lakers up by 7. If this how he plays with the flu then someone hide the Gatorade!!! In the blink of an eye we were up by 15. The bench began to come alive!! Lamar continued his solid play. Steve Blake had a very productive game making some key assists. Luke ( my gosh why is he still a Laker) Walton even had a pretty dime to Shannon for a dunk with elevation so high I couldve sworn his head was in the net!!!
The trending topic seems to be to beat up the Lakers since you cant beat the Lakers. Utah's starting center a guy named Kyrylo Fesenko gave Bynum lots of trouble tonite. Him and Jefferson were pounding anyone who came inside the lane. Fesenko was abusing Pau which isn't that hard to do, but he actually pushed Kobe down to the ground then threw the ball at him. Kobe jumped up and had to be restrained by Pau. Fesenko was hit with a tech and of course Kobe made the basket. When asked about the incident after the game Kobe said " Kitty cats don't hurt me".
In conclusion The Lakers pushed their winning streak to a season high 9 games and counting. The move to 17-1 since the ASB and pull within 1.5 games behind the struggling Spurs. Up next Sunday is a fiery Denver team who has been playing surprisingly better without Carmello Anthony. Although Birdman hurt his ankle tonite and may not play Denver is still a team to take seriously. So my friends until then...
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