FanPost

Be Careful What you Wish for, LA...

Don't get me wrong. I think it was brilliant that Phil played his starters in order to send the Jazz the message "your fate is in our hands, and you are not escaping us". And let's forget for the moment the Jazz's downward spiral during the waning weeks of the season. On paper, the Jazz are a tougher opponent than both the Mavericks or the Hornets, which is why I'm not counting them out yet.

The Lakers' greatest weakness is their own brain. It's all mental. With Sloan's crafty speech about how hopeless his own team is, the Lakers may not take this series seriously, and that scares me. With a potential second-round series coming up with Portland, if the Lakers don't keep their focus on Utah, and Utah alone, then it'll be devastating. Deron Williams is a legit superstar and wants to win, and he wants it bad - he won't allow his team to lose, and if he catches on fire, very few of the Lakers have the speed to stop him. 

That being said, I'm still going with L.A. I'm just saying be careful, boys. The Lakers need to keep their eyes on D-Will and the rest of those hooligans. If they look past the Jazz and see the Blazers, they might not make it there. Complete 100% mental concentration required.