The Jazz were suppose to have almost no chance after getting beat pretty soundly by the Lakers in games 1 and 2. They were suppose to come up to the SLC to wrap things up and wait for the SA/NO winner. They had won 3 of 4 over the Jazz in the regular season with LA taking one of the few Ws by an opponent at the ESA.
But now we have more than a chance to win the series. Grabbing one at LA isn't an easy task. But if Utah avoids a one-quarter meltdown like the first two games, they have a shot to walk away from LA killing David Stern's dream Finals matchup.
Remember everyone, the Jazz didn't win it. The Lakers lost because Kobe wasn't at 100%. They have to say something about Kobe's 1-10 from th earc, his missed layups, and his 6-10 shooting from the FT line. I'm pretty sure Williams and Boozer are hurting too.
It was only the ridiculous hot shooting of Fisher and Odom that sent the game into overtime. Odom had made something like 30 three-pointers all year. But he nails a game-tying three with just about a minute left. And Fisher, who hit maybe 4 in the entire seaon he was with Utah, nailed 4-5 three-pointers. And two of those came in the final 3 minutes when LA rallied from a 12-point deficit.
It has to be a little disconcerting that the Jazz gave up double-digit leads twice, especially the one late in the fourth quarter. But as Williams said about the OT session,
It's just another five minutes on the clock.
The game could have ended in regulation with a Lakers win had we not received the huge game from Williams. With the Jazz up just 1 late in regulation, Williams was able to chase down an awkward pass that bounced off his leg and keep it from going over the half-court line. Nike needs to do a commercial with that play as his shoes gripped the painted Jazz logo and stopped a paper's width from a turnover. The play then went from a near-disaster to a three point lead as Deron shot a fadeaway over the long arms of Gasol.
He took over the game when he was suppose to and found others when they were in a groove. He played his best in the extra frame when he found Memo for two deep twos, nailed a couple of FTs, and found AK for the finishing dunk and the foul. And he gives big props to the fans in his interview,
And we needed Deron on another game where Booze falls off the wagon. I won't be hard on him though as he made two huge free throws at the end of regulation. He still finished with a respectable 14 & 12, but it took him 5-15 to get it. What we need is some consistency out of the big man. Maybe he needs to drop his Powerade endorsement and go with Memo's Dimes drink.
Because apparently it's working. Whatever Memo has been on over the last couple months has given him double-digit rebound ability, driving the lane skills, and some uber-confidence. He finished with 18 & 11 including the two huge aforementioned two-point shots. For whatever reason, he and Booze have gone in opposite directions the last couple month. It's like Boozer and Memo are playing Elaine and George respectively in the Seinfeld "The Opposite" episode. Elaine's and George's fortunes are the opposite at the end of the show. That's because Seinfeld (Williams) is even steven. If both Boozer and Memo have good games, the universe would collapse on itself. So really, Williams has a huge responsibility to ensure the safety of all mankind.
I'm proud to say I matched AK on the boards. He went for 15 & 0 in the game. But it was his five blocks, including two big ones on Kobe, that helped the Jazz win. Harp was solid with 12 and KK had a couple of big threes. But I still don't know why he got 30 minutes to Brewer's 23. But if it's a W, I can't say much.
And while he played only 8 minutes, Price provided plenty to talk about. The first was the hard foul from Turiaf that resulted in Ronnie17 getting 4 stitches above his eye. Turiaf was tossed as a result. He also had an acrobatic "and-1" when he went to the hoop and got a reverse layup to fall after drawing the contact. But the play of the game and maybe the block of the year came after he missed a three-point shot. The long rebound gave Luke Walton a cherry-picking opportunity. He was sprinting to the basket after Price's miss, and got hit with the TD pass. He slowed up at the end to lay it in (why he didn't dunk, I don't know) and out of nowhere, Price emphatically rejected Bill's son and sent him flying into the camera men. The best part was Price's stare afterwards. It saved two points and maybe the game.
No doubt some satisfaction there after getting hammered earlier. And for the Faker fans, its wasn't a foul. It was all ball. And besides, Walton shouldn't have been
lackadaisical
in the first place.
So now it's back to LALA land. It will no doubt be tougher than either of the first two games. There's no way that the Lakers are -20 in the FTAs this time. Kobe was milking the refs in this game. How else would you get away with a pushoff,
and have AK end up on the ground,
and AK gets called for the foul. I also love Sloan's reaction in that picture. He's absolutely beside himself. And then of course it's Kobe that goes to the ground a while later,
Is he hoping this gets into the highlights? Is he trying to replicate the flu game? Maybe he has a movie/commercial he's shooting when he gets back home and he was just practicing?
And for good measure, this was called a foul by the ref on the opposite side of the court by some good flopping,
We have a series again. And if you think you've seen it all, it's only just begun.
Other notes,
The Jazz need to hire the guy who flew the Jazz banner from the plane and send him down to LA on Wednesday. How many people would try to shoot him out of the sky?
Ronny (you're spelling it wrong) "I'll Turi-YourHead-af" was ejected for a flagrant 2 on Ronnie17. I didn't think it warranted a 2, but I'm not complaining. If the league lets it stand, he would miss game 5.
Would Fisher have been given his unconditional release had he played like he has this year? And making the money that he currently does? I wonder if Miller would try to trade him knowing what he knows now.
