Lakers-Jazz: NBA Western Semifinal Preview

Here we go! Four more wins in this second round and the Lakers are in the Western Conference Finals.

The Lakers and Jazz matchup is an interesting one. The Lakers took 3 of 4 games during the regular season. The most impressive win was the last one, when the Lakers beat the Jazz in Utah without Pau Gasol.

They not only beat the Jazz, but they beat 'em good! Here are the matchups by player. The players in bold are the ones I predict will have the advantage over the opponent:

Starting Matchups

• Deron Williams vs. Derek Fisher
• Ronnie Brewer vs. Kobe Bryant
• Andrei Kirilenko vs. Vladimir Radmanovic
• Carlos Boozer vs. Lamar Odom
• Mehmet Okur vs. Pau Gasol

Bench Matchups

• Matt Harpring vs. Luke Walton
• Kyle Korver vs. Sasha Vujacic
• Paul Milsap vs. Ronny Turiaf
• Ronnie Price vs. Jordan Farmar

The Jazz obviously have an advantage at the point guard position. Deron Williams is sure to have a fantastic series statistically.

However, the Jazz have absolutely no answer whatsoever for Kobe Bryant. No team really does, but the Jazz especially don’t!

I don’t see Kirilenko out performing Vlady! The way Radmanovic played defense against Carmelo, I expect him to continue against the Jazz.

I know Carlos Boozer is an All-Star, but statistically he is no better than Lamar Odom. I think that matchup evens itself out.

Pau Gasol is an obvious advantage over Okur. So in summary, the Lakers have an advantage at the shooting guard, center, and the entire bench.

Wild Card

Trevor Ariza. If Ariza is healthy, he will cause fits for the Utah Jazz offense. He can guard D. Williams, Kyle Korver, Kirelenko, Harping, and Price.

Who Will Guard Kobe Bryant?

Expect the Jazz to use primarily a combination of Ronnie Brewer and Andrei Kirelenko. They might throw Kyle Korver and Deron Williams as well, but probably not too much.

The fact is, all matchups are bad for the Jazz. Expect Kobe Bryant to have huge numbers in this series. If Kenyon Martin couldn’t guard Kobe, then how are these scrubs going to?

Prediction

Los Angeles Lakers will win the series in five games!

Kobe Prediction

My prediction is that Kobe Bryant will average 38 points, six Rebounds, and nine assists throughout this season. I expect because of the lack of elite defenders, Kobe Bryant will have at least three very big scoring games.

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