Lakers vs. Jazz Game 2: Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear

by C.A. Clark on Apr 21, 2009 11:04 PM PDT in Game Recaps

Another game in the Lakers first round series with the Jazz, another double digit victory. Right?

Well, sort of. In truth, despite winning 119-109, this was not the game any Lakers fan (or coach or player) wanted to see. The Lakers once again jumped out to a big first half lead, this time thanks to an insane offensive explosion, featuring great shooting all around (from intuitive: "The best shooting quarter in playoff history since play by play stats were recorded") and a couple of real lucky bounces/shots. This time, the Jazz didn't even wait for the half to end before they started chipping away, making it 11 at the half. Both teams held serve in the 3rd quarter, and the Jazz made a big push in the 4th quarter behind some great shooting from D-Will, hustle plays by the Jazz bigs, and a group of refs that swallowed their whistles so hard, they'll need surgery to get them back out.

In the end, the Lakers held on, ratcheted up the defense just in time, and came away with the victory. Is all well that ends well? Only time (2 days, to be exact) will tell. If the Jazz come out strong and hungry and take game three in Utah, the Lakers will know that they reap what they sow.

On the Lakers side of things, great games from Pau and Lamar, at least offensively, with 22 and 19 points respectively on a combined 85% (!!!) shooting on the night. Ariza and Brown both contributed another strong effort, with Shannon having the highest +/- off the bench. 60% shooting as a team for the game, and uh, that's pretty solid.

That's about it for now. Rye will have the full scale analysis of the game tomorrow morning. Here's your box and your recap if you want to do some research and provide us with your own post game analysis.

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Comments

Oh yeah .. the score

was 119-109, since I casually forgot to mention that little tidbit.

by C.A. Clark on Apr 21, 2009 11:07 PM PDT reply actions

You actually did mention the score.

You pretty much summed it up. A win is a win and we are leading 2-0 so I am happy about that. However, the Jazz are a completly different team in Utah so the Lakers better get the kinks worked out because game 3 will be a big test to see if they learned something form the first two games and if they can do it on the road.

Shannon Brown, I had no idea who this guy was when we got him and I am glad the front office pulled this off. This guy is a player and a good shooter. He is really showing that he will be an x-factor for us in the postseason.

Ariza, next to Kobe he is my favorite Laker. Boy has he definatly come a long way from last season.

GO BRONCOS IN 2009 AND BEYOND!!

Lakers lead Utah 2-0

by weazel on Apr 22, 2009 12:59 AM PDT up reply actions

Dutch mentioned the score in the comments

So I went ahead an added it to his post above. All in all, recap right on the money.

Strength & Honor

by Josh Tucker on Apr 22, 2009 6:55 AM PDT up reply actions

Kobe and Ariza with 9 assists each

by intuitive on Apr 21, 2009 11:08 PM PDT reply actions

Wow

Didn’t notice Ariza’s 9 dimes. Wow! That must be a career high for him. I didn’t even notice more than 2-3 of those assists watching the game. Pretty incredible stat for TA only further contributes toward the barrel of value he’s developed working with the Lakers.

by Justin N. on Apr 22, 2009 2:16 AM PDT up reply actions

yeah he had 5 assists in the 1st quarter

by intuitive on Apr 22, 2009 4:12 PM PDT up reply actions

just found this blog

amazing!!!

Rest in Peace Adenhart

by princeton11loveshalos on Apr 21, 2009 11:50 PM PDT reply actions

the lakers did the unthinkable

they had the jazz thinking they could win this game. this is gonna bite the lakers in the rear end in game 3

by Adamas on Apr 21, 2009 11:53 PM PDT reply actions

Mutombo says hes going to retire after he injured his knee during the Portland game.
I’m glad the fans gave him a standing ovation.

by intuitive on Apr 22, 2009 12:26 AM PDT reply actions

If the Lakers don't get mentally focused fast, they might get past the Jazz but later rounds will be tough

by laker on Apr 22, 2009 2:47 AM PDT reply actions

Dude where are all the Laker fans?! The Rockets' blog has like 2000 posts already for their game 2

by laker on Apr 22, 2009 3:02 AM PDT reply actions

It's a new blog

SS&R is about 9 days old, so people are still finding out about us. We’ll get there, though.

Strength & Honor

by Josh Tucker on Apr 22, 2009 6:57 AM PDT up reply actions

Disappointment

I’ll take the win but this showing by the Lakers was extremely disappointing. It just frustrates me so much that this team continually allows inferior teams to hang around. We really have to learn to close teams out and play hard defense for 48 minutes. If we’re going to win the championship this year, we need to get rid of the “we can turn on the switch” mentality. Some observations:

1. UPS continuing to impress. I’m glad that we have some insurance in Brown since Jordan’s play has been suffering lately.

2. Is it just me or does Bynum lose control of the ball frequently? He gets the ball low into the post, dribbles a few times, picks up the ball, and spins INTO the defender. Now, everything would be okay but Bynum seems to lose control of the ball every time he does this.

3. Loved Lamar’s energy today. We need that kind of energy from everybody.

4. Deron Williams is a BEAST.

by chrisbeomsuh on Apr 22, 2009 3:36 AM PDT reply actions

On #3:

That is how I want Lamar to play. When Bynum went down in the regular season, he stepped with some intensity and was playing outstanding. If I remember correctly he had four straight games where he got rebounds of 17,18,19, and 20 respectivly.

GO BRONCOS IN 2009 AND BEYOND!!

Lakers lead Utah 2-0

by weazel on Apr 22, 2009 9:07 AM PDT up reply actions

So yeah, the lakers defense is pathetic…literally no better then it was last season.

Do they have any chance at all to beat the cavs in the finals? giving up 80 pts a game to the lakers 100+?

You better hope the decimated celtics find a way to limp in, otherwise you will lose to the cavs in 6

have a good day

by PaintItBlack on Apr 22, 2009 4:55 AM PDT reply actions

Go ask the Cavs about the Lakers defense

I’m not saying the Lakers are a great defensive team, far from it. But the Lakers are the only team the Cavs couldn’t beat in the regular season, and both of those victories for the Lakers were due to a strong defensive performance. It’s not outlandish to think the Lakers would beat the Cavs in a series.

And if you are using the playoff numbers, comparing points per game when the opponents are the Jazz and Pistons respectively is just laughable.

by C.A. Clark on Apr 22, 2009 8:30 AM PDT up reply actions

Regular season…Those arent very relevant bragging rights to me(cleveland swept the spurs in the 2007 regular season , Dallas over Miami 2006..etc etc..)….I believe you only won that game in cleveland because the lakers were on such an emotional high from winning in boston, they werent gonna lose to the cavs.

And whats the difference between the Jazz and Pistons? i think the pistons are better, certainly on the road where the jazz are just absolutely atrocious, 15-26? and theyre relatively staying in the game in LA and scoring over 100 points?

I think the lakers are a good team, but not defensively at all, they easily ran through last years western playoffs only to get punked in the finals. clarity people. the lakers are a glorified 2007 suns team, score at will, defend like shit. that will catch up to them. I hate cleveland, but they are a beast defensivly, LA nowhere even in the ball park

by PaintItBlack on Apr 22, 2009 9:18 AM PDT up reply actions

Well, I guess time will tell, won’t it?

Strength & Honor

by Josh Tucker on Apr 22, 2009 9:48 AM PDT up reply actions

I have to admit

I didn’t think much of you after your initial post. Thanks for the considerably stronger response.

Your point about the regular season is extremely valid. We could talk about just how seriously the Spurs treat the regular season, but you are right, the regular season isn’t exactly a strong sample size. As for the emotional high from beating Boston, that can easily go the exact oppposite way, but its sort of a moot point anyways.

I think you are way off base with your Pistons-Jazz comparison though. You could argue that the Piston’s talent level might be at or above the Jazz, but they haven’t been playing that way since the AI trade. Their road record is only marginally better than the Jazz (18-23) and the difference in overall record makes it very hard for me to agree that the Pistons are the better team. Besides, this argument is in regards to defense, and even when Detroit was winning championships, they were doing it on 80-90 ppg. Meanwhile, the Jazz offense is one of the best in the NBA. Their road record is so bad because they are even worse at defense than the Lakers are, so they get outscored every night.

Once again, not saying the Lakers are a great defensive team. The Cavs are definitely stronger defensively, just like the Lakers are definitely stronger offensively. I just wouldn’t read too much into things based off of these series vis a vis defense, especially using ppg, because comparing the Pistons current offense to the Jazz offense, that’s invalid on so many levels IMO.

by C.A. Clark on Apr 22, 2009 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions