THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Los Angeles avoids late Utah surge in playoff opener
Lakers's 62 first-half points enough despite Jazz late-game rally
BY BETH HARRIS
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Pardon Phil Jackson's lack of enthusiasm for how the Los Angeles Lakers played in the second half. They piled up 62 points on Utah in the first half, then got outscorded over the final 24 minutes.
"It wasn't a coach's delight, that's for sure," he said.
But his players sure liked the outcome, a 113-100 victory over the jazz in the teams' playoff opener Sunday.
Kobe Bryant scored 24 points, Trevor Ariza added 21 and Pau Gasol 20 as the Lakers pretty much had their way against the eighth-seeded Jazz. They led by 22 points at halftime and then answered resoundingly both times Utah got within nine in the second half.
"They kept knocking on the door and we just never let them in," Bryant said.
Allowing a Phil Jackson-coached team to win Game 1 of any series doesn't bode well for the opposition. Jackson's teams have never lost a playoff series after winning Game 1, going 41-for-41 with Chicago and the Lakers.
Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 27 points and Deron Williams added 16 points and a career play-off high 17 assists. Both were in foul trouble, with Boozer getting his third just before halftime when Williams already had two.
"We had a very difficult time," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "We gave up 62 points in the first half and it's virtually impossible to beat this team giving them an edge."
"I didn't shoot the ball too well." Williams said. "I did a good job getting in the lane and distributing the basketball, I just couldn't finish."
The Jazz sorely missed Mehmet Okur, who sat out with a mild right hammstring strain. He averages
17 points and 7.5 rebounds and gives Utah a much-needed presence against the Lakers' twin 7-footers, Andrew Bynum and Gasol.
Bynum had seven points and three rebounds playing in foul trouble most of the game.
"We were just a step slow," Sloan said. "They kicked our butt off the floor."
He questioned his young team's toughness, a trait Utah has rarely lacked during the Hall of Fame coach's tenure.
"We're not a nasty team," Sloan said. "Most of the teams that we've had here have been pretty nasty and they will get after you from daylight to dark. We're just learning how to get after it a little bit more
as we go along with younger guys.
"Part of that's my fault. I probably haven't been nasty enough with them."
Bryant wasn't buying Sloan's assessment.
"I'm a game connoisseur, so I know how nasty Sloan was
when he was playing," he said,
"Pardon my French, but your (rear)
would be kicked out of the league
if you played that physical now. I'm
sure he's using it as a motivational
tool to get those guys to play even
harder."
They'll need to at Staples Center.
The Jazz were 15-26 on the road during the regular season, and the Lakers have now beaten them 10 in a row at home, including playoff games.
Bryant spent the first quarter getting his teammates involved before putting his own mark on the game.
His total gave Bryant 3,710 career postseason points, moving him past Magic Johnson and into ninth
on the NBA's list. He trails only Kareem Abdul Jabbar (4.070) and Jerry West (4.457) for most points in the playoffs with the Lakers.
The jazz outscored the Lakers 33-24 in the third quarter to trail 86-73 going into the final 12 minutes. They opened the quarter on a 9-0 run, then a 9-2 burst got them to 72-63, their first single-digit deficit since late in the opening quarter.
But Bryant scored three in a row and Shannon Brown hit a 3-pointer that kept the Lakers ahead by 13.
"We were just a step slow. They kicked our butt off the floor."
The Jazz got to 98-89 on a 3-pointer by Andrei Kirilenko with 5:46 remaining in the game. Bryant answered with four points in a row and Gasol hit two free throws that pushed the lead back to 13 points.
JERRY SLOAN Utah coach
The teams combined to make 67 trips to the free throw line.
"A lot of free throws. Anytime you get to the line it stops the momentum," Bryant said. "It doesn't enable us to get out on transition. It was
a stop-and-go game, and that's exactly the style of basketball that they play"
That's what Jackson disliked, especially Utah's 20-7 edge on the offensive boards.
"Foul after foul after foul" he said. "Rebounds, offensive rebounds, those are the things we harped on all week about having to watch that particular aspect of our game."
Williams stole the ball from Bryant to start the game and the Jazz hit three quick shots to take their largest lead of four points.
It was all Lakers after that.
Bryant dished off to Ariza and Brown for 3-pointers, and the Lakers built a 30-10 lead while shooting 71 percent.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NBA
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, center, puts up a shot as Utah Jazz's Paul Millsap, left, and Andrei Kirilenko defend during Game 1 of the teams NBA first-round playoff series in Los Angeles. After surging to a huge halftime lead, Bryant and the Lakers hung on for a 113-100 victory.
Philly steals magic from Orlando
BY ANTONIO GONZALEZ
Associated Press
For the Philadelphia 76ers, it was the sweet sound of stealing home-court advantage.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Andre Iguodala waited for the clock to tick down, took a few dribbles to his right and let go a high-arching jumper. Swish! The Magic were stunned, their fans silenced.
Iguodala made a 22-foot jumper with 2.2 seconds remaining, and the Sixers rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat Orlando 100-98 in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series Sunday.
He then stood at halfcourt waving his hands as teammates joined him to celebrate.
"We won one more game than people thought we would win," Iguodala said. "I was pretty amped up."
Igudala had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and
Louis Williams scored 18 to help the Sixers beat the Magic for the first time in four tries this season
Iguodala had missed two free throws with about a minute left before more than redeeming himself with the game-winning shot.
— and when it mattered most, Hedo Turkoglu's fadeaway 3-pointer missed at the buzzer, and Magic fans stood in disbelief before filing out quietly.
"He really made up for it, didn't he?" Sixers coach Tony DiLeo said, smiling. "He's like our secret weapon."
Dwight Howard had a career playoff-high 31 points and 16 rebounds, and rookie Courtney Lee scored 18 for the Magic. It was the biggest lead the Magic blew all season, topping the loss on Oct. 31 to Memphis when they were ahead by 15 points. Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night in Orlando.
"I was very surprised at the
effort," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I was surprised not only for our lack of intensity defensively, but I was really surprised with our lack of focus."
Orlando's inside-out game seemed as if it would too much for Philadelphia
When they did, Howard again took charge.
Rim-rocking dunks, smooth hook shots and even some uncharacteristic crisp free throws by the Magic's center capped the spurt. The only time Philadelphia actually slowed Howard was when Samuel Dalembert inadvertently scratched both his eyes and was called for a foul. Howard said his eyes were pulsating after the game but shouldn't be a problem.
Howard made the pair of free throws to put Orlando ahead 79-61 and then went to the locker room with a towel to his face. He returned to the game after a few minutes.
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