Lakers Closeout the Jazz But Not the Monkey on Their Backs

It seemed as though the Lakers were playing like an entirely different team now that Lamar Odom was back in the starting lineup replacing Andrew Bynum who had replaced him in the last four games of the regular season.

Even more impairing than physical fatigue is the mental fatigue that sets in toward the end of an 82-game season. That may have caused the Lakers to start feeling less confident in their game.

During the final month of the season, the Lakers played as if they were waiting for their big man to return. They played hesitant, indecisive basketball, not really trusting in their ability to put less talented teams away.

Then Bynum returned, but he wasn’t the same player that he was before his knee injury. As the playoffs began, he was especially ineffective.

Tonight was a perfect example. The Lakers had a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter. Phil Jackson brought in Andrew Bynum and Josh Powell to give Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom a breather while Trevor Ariza was on the bench with four fouls.

To counter, Jerry Sloan brought in a ferocious Ronnie Price, and the Jazz were off to the races. Five minutes later, the Lakers’ lead was down to eleven points.

Jackson wasted no time bringing Odom and Gasol back while Ariza came in for Kobe Bryant. But the rhythm the Lakers had used to build a 21-point lead was now broken. Their big man, Bynum, was simply of no use, and as Bynum went so went the second unit playing undisciplined, playground basketball.

Gasol and Odom needed to get back in sync before their lead dwindled away. Until the second unit went in, Gasol and Odom had dominated the boards, but suddenly neither one could hold onto a rebound. They were once again letting a less talented team dominate them.

Jackson brought Bryant and Derek Fisher back in. But with Ronnie Price playing like there was no tomorrow – and there wasn’t – the Jazz cut the Lakers’ lead down to six.

Finally the Lakers got some legs under them and hit a couple of baskets, Bryant first with a 15-foot jumper then Odom with a slam dunk at the 1:31 mark.

That stretched the lead to nine points, 98-89. All the Jazz could do now was foul and in the end succombed to the Lakers to closeout the series 107-96.

Although Kobe Bryant had a game-high 31 points along with four steals, Lamar Odom again was the key factor in the Lakers win. Odom had a strong double-double with 26 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. Pau Gasol also had a double double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. All three, Bryant, Odom and Gasol, had four assists apiece.

For the fiesty Jazz who staged a huge fourth quarter comeback refusing to give up, Paul Milsap had 16 points. Andre Kirilenko and Deron Williams had 14 points each. The fiery Ronnie Price who only played 14 minutes finished with eight points and five assists.

But the real story once again was the Lakers bench. Twelve points on 4-of-20 shooting. Sasha Vujacic was just 2-of-10. Meanwhile the Jazz bench collected 40 points on 14-of-35 shooting.

Despite closing out the Jazz four games to one, the big question mark lingers into Round 2 – the Western Conference semi-finals. Where is their killer instinct?

Cleveland has it. Even Denver has it. But no matter which teams the Lakers play during the remainder of the playoffs, that monkey is still on their backs. Those teams know not to give up, and they won’t. Why not? Because no matter what the score is, they know the Lakers will always let them get back in the game at some point.

That is not a very good message to send to your opponents if you expect to win the NBA Title. A team down by 20 points to Cleveland realizes the game is over. A team down by 20 points to the Lakers is looking to make that run.

Given those messages, which team, the Cavaliers or the Lakers, do you think will win the NBA Title?