Probably nothing I could say to add to last night's win of the season. If you didn't see it, I'm not going to be able to come close to recreating or describing what happened.
Every Jazz fan is used to getting our hopes up only to have them dashed on the slopes of Mount Olympus. The team was certainly heading that way again. They were up 101-92 after a nasty Ronnie Brewer dunk with about 6 minutes left. But then do to a series of turnovers and horrible free throw shooting, the lead was lost with a Kobe three-point shot to give the Lakers a 105-104.
That would have done in the Jazz on a lot of nights. But Kobe's copycat dance of Sam Cassell's cajone walk gave the Jazz the last bit of spark they needed to pull things out.
Paul Millsap kicked Kobe's right one in with a dunk and the foul to give the Jazz a two-point lead. After Kobe (insert your own madlib verb here) Kyle Korver of the ball and made a layup, Memo kicked him in the left one with a Money three-point shot to give the Jazz the lead for good. Deron made it interesting after that by missing a couple of free throws, but the Lakers couldn't capitalize and went down 113-109.
via d.yimg.com
As long as your team wins, that's the kind of game you like. Not much more you could ask for. Here's what we got out of this game:
- A win over the best team in the league. This coming after they had beaten Cleveland & Boston on their home courts.
- Kobe looking like a fool after the cajones dance.
- Deron making a fool out of Kobe on the defensive end when the Mamba tried to guard him. Deron drove by him once for the basket and the foul. The other time he crossed him over, sent Kobe backpedalling, and nailed the J.
via a.espncdn.com
(Good withstanding the forces of Evil)
- Filthy dunks from Ronnie B all night.
- Derek Fisher only shooting 3/7 and not hitting any big 3s.
- Kobe needing 33 shots to get his 37 points and going 1-7 on threes.
- Deron destroying everyone in his path.
- This team can play with anyone.
- Oh, and Chris Paul had a crappy night in his return against the Celtics.
- Remember how the Lakers were "streak breakers" after beating the Cavs to end their home winning streak and then beating the Cs to end their 12-game winning streak? The Jazz break the Lakers 7-game streak and LA "stumbled."
- Man, this would be a good first-round series.
Let's see what everyone else is saying,
- Kobe Bryant - "Deron is better than I thought he was, which is saying a lot. He's one of the best in the world. I got to see every day how great he really is."
- John Hollinger makes the fatigue excuse for the Lakers - "The fatigue showed in other ways too. When some calls didn't go their way and the typical Things That Happen in Utah started happening -- shoving off the ball, contact around the rim and the like -- L.A. uncharacteristically got too focused on the refs and not enough on the game."
Remember, the Jazz didn't win, the Lakers lost it. In his whole column, no credit was given to the Jazz for their stellar play. And here's the pic from the NBA main page on ESPN. The Lakers tripped in Utah. How about the Jazz took out the best team in the league? Take a look ESPN's NBA page,
- Ross Siler - "It's almost incredible how small the margin is between an epic collapse and a defining victory."
- The Cowhide Globe - "There have been some rough streches so far this season, but with D-Will and Millsap getting some much deserved rest over the all-star break and Boozer and AK scheduled to return shortly, the Jazz are primed to make a strong late season run."
More stuff coming up despite the Jazz not having any representation at the All-Star game.