Lakers-Jazz: LA Misses Bynum as Boozer Manhandles Gasol

The Lakers jumped out to a quick eight-point lead, 11-3, and it looked like a repeat of the first two games in the series. But then Derek Fisher, who has done an exceptional job of guarding Deron Williams, got two personal fouls and had to sit with nine minutes left in the first quarter.

With Jordan Farmar in the game, the Lakers committed six turnovers that led to ten points for the Jazz and a 15-3 run. Gasol was especially lax with the ball and had four early turnovers. Carlos Boozer was able to pick his pocket twice.

The first quarter ended all knotted up at 23. Kobe Bryant didn’t have any field goals and only three points from the foul line.

The second quarter was all Utah Jazz. Their big three – Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko – were doing something they had failed to do in Los Angeles – make shots to give Deron Williams some support.

Okur was high with 12 points followed by Boozer with 10, Williams with 9, Kirilenko with 6. Kyle Korver added five points to the mix to give the Jazz a 52-43 halftime lead.

Bryant ended up with just one field goal in the half on five attempts and went 6 of 7 at the foul line.

The Jazz shot 51% from the floor to the Lakers 41% and hit 4 out of 6 behind the 3-point arc to a dismal 3 out of 11 for the Lakers. The Lakers also had ten turnovers compared to just five for the Jazz.

The third quarter began with both teams trading field goals. Bryant came out of his first half slump to score 14 points in the quarter and combined with Fisher to bring the Lakers to within five points, 73-68.

But they could not get any closer as the Jazz closed out the quarter with a 79-72 lead, an exact reverse of the third quarter score in the first game at Staples Center.

Hmm, maybe there is something to his home court thing after all.

The Lakers couldn’t get anything going at the start of the fourth quarter as their so-called "Bench Mob" committed one turnover after another. Even with a bad hand that he injured falling to the floor in the second quarter, Williams was able to dribble rings around Farmar.

Two successive turnovers by Farmar and three quick fouls on Turiaf, and Phil Jackson had seen enough.

He brought Bryant, Odom and Fisher back without their customary four-minute rest, to try and make a game out of it.

And they did. The Lakers starters whittled the Jazz lead back down to 5 points, 88-83.

But as it turns out, Pau Gasol is no Andrew Bynum. Carlos Boozer had his way with the tall, lanky Spaniard and would not be denied, crashing the boards for layups and second chance points to extend the Jazz lead back to 95-86.

Then Bryant and Fisher went to work to bring the Lakers to within three, 95-92. But it was Boozer once again, this time on Odom, hitting three straight jumpers to give the Jazz a 101-92 lead.

Then Walton and Bryant combined to get the Lakers back to within four, 103-99. But with 14 seconds left, the Lakers committed their 18^th turn over as Luke Walton mishandled a Gasol tip of a jump ball.

And the Lakers suffered their first playoff loss, 104-99, but still lead the series 2 -1.

Mehmet Okur had 22 points and 7 rebounds for the Jazz. Deron Williams ended up with 18 points and 12 assists.

But Carlos Boozer was the driving force for the Jazz. He finished with a career playoff high 27 points and 20 rebounds to Pau Gasol’s 12 points, 6 rebounds and 5 costly turnovers.

Bryant waited until the second half to get his game going and ended up with 34 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists but got little support from the rest of the lineup. Odom and Fisher each had 13 points. Luke Walton added 11 points. Turiaf and Radmanovic each had 8 points.

After the game, Phil Jackson commented on the two sore spots in the Lakers defeat, namely Gasol’s five turnovers and Farmar’s ineffectiveness. "This was a game where Pau Gasol looked at the referees every time he got stripped." And with Derek Fisher picking up two early fouls, Jackson said, "Jordan (Farmar) was off his rhythm and wasn’t quite ready to go in there."

Bryant seemed to take the defeat in stride. "We’ll go back and make the adjustments and try to create some space for Pau (Gasol)," he said in his postgame press conference.

Two adjustments the Lakers cannot make would have been to bring back Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza. They sorely miss both, especially on the defensive end. Whether the adjustments they do make are enough to neutralize Boozer, Williams and Okur remains to be seen.

Game 4 is Sunday afternoon. If the Jazz are able to prevail, they will be going back to Staples Center with the momentum in their favor.