Lakers-Jazz: Game 1 Victory May Have Exposed Rebounding Weakness

Fifty-eight rebounds, 25 on the offensive boards, 9 blocked shots, 95 shot attempts (matching their regular season high) for the Utah Jazz in a 109-98 loss in their round two opener with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Mehmet Okur had 21 points and 19 rebounds (personal playoff record), including eight offensive boards. Carlos Boozer had 15 points and 14 rebounds, six on the offensive end before fouling out.

Deron Williams, a point guard, had as many rebounds as Lamar Odom (9) and just one less than Pau Gasol (10) for the Lakers, who had only 41 total rebounds.

These are obvious danger signs for the Lakers.

Gasol, Odom, Radmanovic and Turiaf were all seriously outplayed in the paint. In fact the Jazz pushed them around as if they were mannequins in a store window, consistently out-positioning the Lakers in the paint.

The Lakers need to get tougher under the boards instead of hoping the officials will do the hard work for them, or they won't go deep into the playoffs or deep into this series for that matter.

If Utah takes the next game Wednesday night at Staples, they will gain home-court advantage and return to Utah where they were an NBA-best 37-4.

Even though the Jazz only shot 38 percent, they came very close to overtaking the Lakers because they were able to put in their second and third attempts.

The Lakers, who shot 45 percent, won the game at the foul line, where they were 38-of-46 compared to 22-of-30 for the Jazz. In all, the officials called 60 fouls with 24 in the final quarter.

Kobe Bryant was the biggest beneficiary of those foul calls. He set a Lakers’ Playoff record, hitting 21 of 23 from the charity stripe, where he was greeted with chants of "M-V-P! M-V-P!"

He proved to be the Lakers’ most valuable player in this game, making 8-of-16 from the floor and finishing with 38 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists.

But the Jazz were even more impressive, coming from 19 points back in the middle of the third quarter to close the gap to 4 points, 91-87 with 4:44 left in the game. Then foul shots and clutch baskets by Gasol put the game out of reach.

But not the series.

The Jazz were playing with less than two days rest after winning their first-round matchup with the Houston Rockets Friday night. That probably accounted for their low-percentage shooting as well as their thirteen turnovers.

But the Lakers had better not expect the same on Wednesday night.

With three days off and time to rest and to prepare, the Jazz should be able to improve their execution and give the Lakers cause for concern.