HELP YOUR TEAM CARLOS, UTAH CAN WIN THIS SERIES!!

For the first time in the series I actually believe Utah can win this series!! Watching this basketball game tonight I have come to this conclusion, and I say it with conviction!! UTAH CAN WIN THIS SERIES!!

Now let me say that I still think the Lakers are going to win the series. I still think the Lakers are the better team with the most unstoppable force on the floor in the MVP in Kobe Bryant. Bad back and all Kobe still came away with 26 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. The most impressive feat that Bryant did was back up his words when he told anyone who would listen that he did trust his teammates. I was beginning to question whether Bryant was truly committed to putting the ball in someone else’s hand down the stretch after the game four 2-13 stat line in the 4th quarter. But Wednesday night Kobe practiced what he was preaching.

Who could have imaged Kobe not even attempting a field goal attempt over the final 13 minutes of the game and yet the Lakers still prevailing. In the past if Kobe wouldn’t attempt a shot over that amount of time, it was a sign Kobe was acting like a spoiled, petulant little child who didn’t get his way. Now in this season of redemption and personal growth, the decision not to look for his shots and put the game into the hands of his teammates is a sign of strength and trust rather than contempt and attempt to embarrass as was in seasons past.  

The interior play for Los Angeles continues to be strong with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom having another solid game. Pau stayed strong despite the beating he was taking from Utah’s center Mehmet Okur to score 21 points along with 8 assists, and six rebounds. None of his rebounds were more important than the offensive put back from a Sasha Vujacic three point attempt to finally seal the deal and put the Los Angeles ahead three games to two with the series going back to Utah Friday night.

The one knock on Gasol has always been his ability to stay productive once the games became physical. That if an opponent continued to lean on him, give him a few hard fouls when he went to the hoop early, an elbow to the chest, a hip bump when the referee heads were turned that Gasol would shrink and shy away from the physicality and pressure of the moment.

But last night Gasol was strong and defiant to the physical defense the Jazz were playing. Nothing dirty mind you, but the type of defense that Pau had to show some power to and he did.  

Lamar Odom continues to play with a confidence and freedom that I don’t think he’s played with since his days at Christ the King High School in Middle Village, New York 12 years ago.  Odom scored 22 points on 12 shot attempts, grabbed 11 rebounds and helped to continually confound Carlos Boozer. Throughout the Lakers playoff run, Odom has looked like he’s the third best player on the floor behind Kobe and D. Williams.

But getting back to Utah, once again the Lakers gave them ample opportunity to win this game. The Jazz, who never lead in the game, fought and scraped every minute and almost caught Los Angeles several times in the contest. Metaphorically speaking, it was if the Jazz were running a long race, sprinting to catch up to the leader who was running at a solid pace. Just when Utah seemed it would run past Los Angeles with one burst of determination and maximum effort, L.A just put it into another gear, opened up some space, and went back to the pace they had before, Utah then calling for reinforcements from within to try again.

Several times during the game the Jazz looked poised to impose their will on the contest. Deron Williams was having a marvelous game, draining shots from the perimeter, driving to the hoop with abandon, making clutch baskets under duress and setting up teammates for great looks and easy baskets.

Andrei Kirilenko and Ronnie Brewer are playing Kobe about as well as anybody can right now. Is it to their advantage that Kobe is not 100% with the bad back? Sure it is…But both players are making Kobe work in the half court sets and while Bryant have been given a number of “Michael Jordan” type fouls by the refs (which means they weren’t fouls unless your name is Kobe Bryant) to put him on the line, Kobe has had to work for a lot of his points.

The only thing I see from the Jazz having an incredible opportunity to defeating the Lakers two times in a row is the play of Carlos Boozer. Once again I was disappointed in the overall impact he had on the game.

The good news is Boozer was the court for 40 minutes and grabbed 12 rebounds. He also scored 18 points and went to the free throw line 8 times.

The bad news is the fact he is still shying away from contact on his post moves and not finishing at the rim. In these playoff games when every basket counts, Boozer cannot continue to miss “And one” opportunities when Williams serves them to him on a silver platter. For a man who is counted on to make his presence felt on the offensive end, he continues to under perform. Williams cannot be the only real offensive threat for the Jazz and expect them to win this series. The only other player on the Jazz who can give up 20+ points a game is Carlos Boozer and right now I don’t see him making that kind of impact.

I would love to think that the Utah Jazz is going to win this series and have TV execs and league officials’ jump off the Brooklyn Bridge with the thought of a Utah/New Orleans/San Antonio-vs- Detroit NBA finals. But unless Boozer does something from an offensive standpoint (game duplicate of game three would be nice for Jazz fans) the Jazz will play their last tune this series.