Los Angeles Lakers vs Utah Jazz

Written by Lucky Lester on May, 13th 2008 | 0 Comments

2008 NBA Playoff: Second Round Betting

There are plenty of NBA playoff games this week, but there’s only one that has me ready to roll. The Jazz and Lakers play in L.A. on Wednesday Night, and I can’t wait to see this one. What people don’t realize is that the Lakers and Jazz played two pretty close games in L.A. and now Kobe is having back troubles. From a guy who definitely needs a backiotomy, that’s not good for the Lakers. Softball was tough for me tonight, I can’t imagine going toe to toe with Kirilenko. This is what I expect from Game 5 in L.A.

L.A. Lakers (1) vs. Utah Jazz (4) (Series Tied at 2-2)

Game 5 Preview:
It’s true, the series is all tied at 2 games a piece, and yes, Lakers’ fans, your purple and gold 1-seed isn’t immortal after all. In fact, that’s why I love this game. Suddenly, the Jazz, a consistently bad road team, can come into L.A. and take a 3-2 lead over the favorite to win a championship. All they have to do is finally win a road game in L.A. and shut down an injured Kobe Bryant. Ronny Turiaf was ejected from the last game, and Carlos Boozer looked like Drew Gooden for most of the first half. Kobe is hurting. Deron Williams is on fire, and Lamar Odom has realized that the Jazz don’t have a single player that has a chance guarding him 1 on 1. Do you think this game is going to be spectacular? You betcha! I expect a high scoring tie game that goes right down to the wire. With 8.5 points going with the Jazz, I actually would put my money on the road team covering. Even though that road team is habitually bad away from Utah.

Season Series:
11/04/07—Utah 109 @ L.A. 119 (Over)
11/30/07—L.A. 96 @ Utah 120 (Over)
12/28/07—Utah 109 @ L.A. 123 (Over)
03/20/08—L.A. 106 @ Utah 95 (Under)

Playoff Series Thus Far:
Gm. 1: LAL 109, UTA 98 (Under) (L.A.)
Gm. 2: LAL 120, UTA 110 (Over) (L.A.)
Gm. 3: UTA 104, LAL 99 (Under) (Push)
Gm. 4: UTA 123, LAL 115 (Over) (Utah)

Series Review: The Lakers started off with two double-digit wins, but I’m not so sure that was indicative of the way the Jazz played. For the most part, Utah kept it close enough to strike, but couldn’t do anything to press late. Utah’s big guys didn’t do jack and in the end Kobe and Pau Gasol ran the show. Utah hasn’t been a good home team all year long (losing record on the road) but Boozer’s magic-show disappearing act has been interesting. He’s only played one good game this series. That was game 3.

The Jazz came out hot in Utah, but it took some strength down the stretch to hold the Lakers off. They ended up winning, 104-93 in game 3, but the game wasn’t that close throughout. Still, Utah has shown that they are subject to crumbling down the stretch, which is never a good thing against a team sporting Kobe Bryant.

Game 4 was interesting. Throughout, it seemed like the Jazz were in complete control, but the game was always close. Late, the Jazz took a 10 point lead and Kobe was hurting bad, so a 2-2 series headed back to L.A. was all but guaranteed. Then Lamar Odom hit a late 3 and followed up a Kobe miss to tie the game and send it to overtime. Finally, the Jazz closed it out, and we head back to L.A. where Utah hasn’t won this season.

Previous Series Prediction: “The Lakers won’t need their brooms in this match-up. I’m telling you right now that this series will go no less than 6 games and my prediction is 7.” Check out my Lakers/Jazz series preview to read the rest of my prediction—but so far, my analysis looks spot on. 

Remaining Series Schedule:

Gm. 5: Wed., May 14: at L.A., 10:30 PM EST (TNT)
Gm. 6: Fri., May 16: at Utah, TBD (ESPN)
Gm. 7*: Mon. May 19: at L.A., TBD (TNT)
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