Lakers-Jazz Game Five Preview: Tied Series Brings Teams to L.A.

The Lakers return to Los Angeles with a series tied at two games apiece. The Utah Jazz did what they had to do and won both games in Utah. It isn’t shocking that the Jazz won both games the Jazz had one of the best home winning records in basketball.

This just means that as basketball fans; we now have a series. Game four of this series might’ve been the best game so far of the playoffs but clearly one of the most exciting and competitive.

The previously discussed adjustments were made by the Lakers. There was good news and bad news. First the good news, Kobe Bryant showed his metal and really gutted it out and played through some serious back pain.

Lamar Odom was more of a factor, he played bigger and had 26 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, one steal and three blocked shots and the basket that forced the game into overtime.

The Lakers had the opportunity to steal both road games. Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher scored 99 points which is most cases would warrant a win.

Now the Bad News, the Lakers got 16 points from their bench which has been big for the Lakers all season but not on the road.  The Lakers outscored the Jazz 34 – 24 in the second quarter of game four but missed 10 huge free throws.

This is where game four was lost. Had the Lakers made the 10 free throws the Lakers would've outscored the Jazz by 20 points in the second quarter and instead of the score being tied at the half the Lakers would've lead by ten to start the third quarter.

The bottom line is that the road trip to Utah produced two loses for the Lakers but could be better described as two lost opportunities that were there for the taking.

The Jazz are great at setting screens, Utah does an excellent job of forcing you to move your feet and fight over the screen.

The Jazz are also one of best rebounding teams in the league. The Jazz also are tough to beat in Utah. Despite the above, the Lakers had a chance to win both games in Utah and contrary to popular belief this series is far from over.

The Utah Jazz deserves a lot of credit for winning two games and making this a series. The Lakers have lost twice but I feel that they’ll come out and play a much better game on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Hopefully Kobe Bryant’s back will allow him to play pain free and be the Kobe Bryant that we all know.

Some might even call this a must win game for the Lakers and that can't be argued. I stated going into this series that the Lakers would win the series in six games and I still feel that way.

The Lakers need to come out and play energized by their home crowd.

The Lakers need to be more active on defense, continue to battle for rebounds, take care of the basketball, dramatically cut down the number of turnovers and knockdown open shots.

The Lakers bench needs to play big to give the starters a lift and the team needs more out of bench players especially Jordan Farmar he has been completely taken out of his game and his confidence is at an all time low.

He has been pressing, he needs to relax go out and have fun again. He is a streaky shooter but he'll be energized by the home crowd and needs to knock down the open shots and utilize his speed. The Lakers need to continue to run their offense to be effective.

This game will take a total team effort with contributions from everyone in purple and gold to include the fans. The Lakers need to show their character and muscle on Wednesday night in a solid bounce back performance.  

The Jazz have won two games in a row at home and now have to play on the road where there record isn’t as good. Usually the team that wins two games at home loses the next game on the road.

The Jazz have guaranteed another game in Utah but this is now a best of three series with the Lakers having two home games.