Lakers - Jazz

I had the pleasure of watching Game Three of the Lakers-Jazz series last night. A few thoughts from the game:

1. Kobe's teamates lost that game for him last night. For the first 2.5 quarters, the Jazz dominated and held Kobe to 10 points. Neither Fisher nor Odom made up for Kobe's lack of production during this time and the Jazz carried a lead between 5 and 15 points until the third quarter. In the third quarter, however Kobe came to life and exploded with 15 points; like MJ, he single-handedly brought his team back into the game. Kobe carried that momentum to the fourth quarter, and kept it close, but none of his teamates decided to pitch in and help them close the deal. For example with less than a minute left Kobe hit a three to make it a one possesion game. The Jazz then turned the ball over to Luke Walton who then panicked and threw a terrible pass to Kobe which he missed and then gave back to the Jazz.

Small things like this make the Lakers beatable in my opinion. Walton could have kept his cool and passed it properly to Kobe. Kobe most likely would have turned around and tied the game. The Lakers get another stop and the game goes to OT. But instead his teamate's lack of experience and small fuck-ups prevented Kobe from letting his brilliance win the game. His teammates cannot let that happen again if they want to win this series. The Jazz, especially at home, are not going to be that easy.

2. Kirelenko had a huge cold sore on his upper lip. I can't stand him so I thought I'd point that out.

3. Boozer had a nice game, but I really dont like him either. All he does is take annoying fade aways, bark at his opponents when he hits the occasional good shot, and play "decent defense." I would say he is way overated and everyone sweats him, too. PS - I hate Duke.

4. Deron Williams has an awful haircut and I really don't like how everyone thought he was so tough for coming back after that wrist injury. Big deal. He gets paid to do that. And it's the playoffs.

5. The Jazz are ridiculous at home. I think they went 30-2 this year.

6. If the Lakers want to win this series they need to stop guys like Mehmet Okur from scoring 20 points. I know he's got a sick three, but he shouldn't be penetrating the paint that easily or getting that many offensive rebounds.