Do the Lakers REALLY want the Jazz?
Everybody keeps saying the Lakers are in the position to choose their first-round playoff foe, essentially pointing out that I have more of a chance of getting a phone call from Jack Nicholson to sit by him at tonight’s game in L.A. than the Utah Jazz do of winning the regular-season finale.
And skeptics – OK, realists, too – do have plenty of reasons to not like the Jazz’s chances tonight.
- The Jazz have been less-than-stellar – lousy would be a less nice way of putting it – on the tail end of back-to-back games with just three wins so far in 20 attempts.
- Utah is only 15-25 on the road this season – second-worst record of any of the NBA’s 16 playoff teams. Adding to their road-kill reputation, the Jazz have only beaten one Western Conference playoff team this year away from the Beehive State. That sole victory was against New Orleans, and seeing how that town is on the Mississippi can we really consider the Hornets a Western team anyway?
- Utah has lost seven in a row to the Lakers at Staples Center, including a 113-100 drubbing on Jan. 2. Coach Phil Jackson has also said he won’t be sitting his regulars tonight.
- Perhaps worst of all, the Jazz have lost in the past couple of weeks to the Warriors and the T-Wolves.
OK, that’s the bad news for Jazz fans – not to mention that prior to Monday’s win over the L.A.’s JV club Utah had lost 6 of 7 games.
Now, need some encouraging news to tide you over until the 8:30 p.m. TNT tipoff?
The Jazz won the most recent match-up between these two teams on the opposite ends of the playoff bracket spectrum. Sure, it seems like an eternity’s passed since, but Utah held off the Lakers 113-109 two months ago in a pre-All-Star thriller that came during its 12-game winning streak.
Utah, currently in the No. 8 spot, also took top-seeded L.A. to six games in the Western Conference semifinals last year, so it’s not like the Jazz are a cake walk for Kobe’s club.
Something I read today in the Los Angeles Times might also give Jazz fans reason to hope. To sum it up: Don’t be so sure the 64-17 Lakers want to face 48-33 Utah in the first round, which would happen if L.A. wins tonight and/or if Dallas and New Orleans each win Wednesday.
The Lakers are mum on who they prefer (for the first round), though they went 3-0 against Dallas, 3-1 against New Orleans and 1-1 against Utah this season.
Jackson typically says he would rather play the team that is closest to Los Angeles to cut down on travel time, but he wouldn’t even say that much Monday.
“It’s always nice in the Western Conference to have short trips, but you certainly don’t want to name an opponent as someone you have a preference for,” he said. “I think all the teams in the West are capable of winning their first-round playoff games against their opponents.”
Jackson said Utah matches up fairly well with the Lakers, mentioning Mehmet Okur versus Pau Gasol, Deron Williams versus Fisher and physical power forwards Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap versus the Lakers’ front line. He also suggested that lanky forward Andrei Kirilenko can occasionally cause problems if he guards Kobe Bryant.
“This team has shown a variety of different people that can do things against us individually,” Jackson said. “There’s all kinds of matchup situations that are a strong advantage in most sequences that we all recognize.”