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Lakers in 5
Lakers by 35, Kobe goes for 60 in the 1st half
Lakers in 5
It's a sweep.
Lakers win i would say in 5 or 6 Lakers dont know yet how to put someone away ...plus AI wont allow it ...
The Nuggets will explode one night and won't miss. Lakers in 5.
Good luck Denver.
Nuggets in 7?
good luck to you guys as well.
Please tell me you arent one of those LA fans that are already talking Finals
I know the Nuggets will be a pushover but it will get tougher after that.
(I'm not talking ) When is the last time the Nuggets advanced past the first round?
Nah, Utah will be an even easier matchup
An easier matchup than Denver? You're ing stupid.
1994.......
that would be awesome.
Matchup wise? Yes.
You're a ing idiot.
Go change your name man!
Actually, for the Lakers the Jazz are a better matchup and the Jazz know it.
From a Utah paper.
Lakers bad playoff matchup for Jazz
Daily Herald
With less than a month left in the NBA regular season, the Western Conference playoff picture looks like someone spilled a drink on a water color painting.
It's hard to tell exactly what you're looking at.
There are seven teams within two games of each other in the Western Conference and the playoff picture changes daily, but that has never stopped Utah Jazz fans in speculating who they will play and what seed will the Utah Jazz end up with.
No. 2 or No. 3?
No. 4 or No. 5?
Who really cares as long as the Jazz can stay as far away from the LA Lakers as they can get. Who wants to play the Lakers, the team with the best record (47-21) in the Western Conference?
What has to concern Jazz fans with a potential matchup against the Lakers is the way they shoot against Utah. The way the score so effortlessly.
The Lakers scored 38 first-quarter points in their 106-95 win Thursday night in Salt Lake City. They were so hot they could have taken the second and third quarter off and still outscored the Miami Heat.
L.A. shot 75 percent (15-of-20) in the first quarter and 59 percent in the first half. The Lakers shot 53 percent for the game and exposed another Jazz weakness, guarding the perimeter. They shot 45 percent from the 3-point line.
More bad news for Jazz fans. Los Angeles did it without Pau Gasol (ankle) and Andrew Bynum (knee), who both missed Thursday's game with injuries.
What happens when this team gets healthy?
Back away from the Lakers slowly. Get as far away from them as you can. Make the Lakers someone else's problem.
"They're very difficult to guard with our team. We're not really equipped to guard smaller lineups. We found out that when we played New Jersey," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "Kobe gives them that advantage and he makes it very difficult. This year he's passing the ball and doing things to make his teammates better. That's how the game's supposed to be played."
The Jazz have had good success with the rest of the potential playoff teams this year.
Utah had no troubled with Golden State last year and this year the Jazz are 3-0 against the Warriors.
Utah still has a game left against New Orleans, but the Jazz are already 2-1 against he Hornets and does anyone really fear that matchup?
Utah is 2-1 against Phoenix and the Jazz beat the Suns in Phoenix with Shaq.
The Jazz are 2-1 against Dallas and 2-1 vs. Denver. Utah is 1-1 vs. Houston.
Even San Antonio, a team Utah has had about as much luck with as opposing teams trying to guard Kobe one-on-one, sounds appealing compared to the Lakers.
Utah has split the season series with the Spurs (1-1) with two games still left to play. The Spurs still look formidable, but also look beatable. They are currently in third place in the Southwest Division don't look as intimidating with their 45-23 record.
The only potential playoff team Utah has a losing record with in the regular season is...you guessed it, the Lakers.
LA took three of four games from the Jazz this year and it's not hard to see why. The Jazz can't defend this team. The Lakers have shot .558, .442 and .544 against the Jazz in the first three games and then on Thursday night did it again. They cooled off in the fourth quarter and only managed to shoot .525 for the game.
What would be ideal for the Jazz is if they could end up with a No. 1 or more realistically the No. 2 seed and considering what the Jazz have left down the stretch, that's a good possibility.
Utah plays six of its next seven games at home where the Jazz are 29-4 this year. The Jazz host Seattle, Charlotte, the LA Clippers, Washington, Minnesota and San Antonio. Their only road game is at the Timberwolves.
The Jazz do finish up with a tough stretch that includes road games at New Orleans, Dallas, and San Antonio along with home games against Denver and Houston, but if Utah continues to play well at home, there's no reason to think the Jazz can't finish with a 9-3 record over their last 12 games.
That will guarantee Utah a playoff berth and hopefully, for Jazz fans who have hopes of this team making it back to the Western Conference Finals, a spot in the bracket opposite the Lakers.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/259813/
And this from yesterday from a different Utah writer
http://blogs.sltrib.com/jazz/2008/04/jazz-in-six.htm...As I said walking out of the Jazz's pregame shootaround Wednesday: "The difference is that the Jazz CAN beat the Spurs but they WILL beat the Rockets."
You can argue that possibly having to play the Lakers in the conference semifinals will ultimately doom the Jazz. I'm not going to disagree with that. It also would have been
a monumental breakthrough to knock off the defending champions.
But there's no guarantee the Jazz would get out of the first round against the Spurs. I believe you take the surer bet to advance, then wait and see if something breaks in
your favor in the later rounds.
Maybe Kobe Bryant will get chopped on his hand and damage that injured pinkie even more. Maybe Pau Gasol will sprain his ankle again and miss two weeks like he did in
March. You never know, especially in this year's playoffs....
No sweep, 6 or 7, but Lakers take it with HCA. 8 seed over 1 seed ain't gonna happen
Good Articles, I wondered why the lakers seemed to handle the Jazz so easily when others have so much trouble with them. I too was under the impression that the Jazz would be an easier matchup for the Lakers than Denver.
Prediction: Lakers in 5
The talent is pretty damn equal,
but Phil will outcoach George over a series, where the coaching, including series prep, is a big factor.
I dunno...first round easy...second round...easy...3rd round..either suns, dallas or spurs...after that..finals...road doesnt seem that bad.Please tell me you arent one of those LA fans that are already talking Finals
I know the Nuggets will be a pushover but it will get tougher after that.
Imagine what the spurs have to go through. 1st round Suns..2nd round..Dallas..3rd round Lakers..YIKES!
I don't think it will be easy for Lakers.
Nuggets are a very talented team and they play hard when they are motivated. It makes no doubt that they will be motivated for the playoffs.
Nuggets in 6.
I'd be amazed if the Nugs win one game..
Let's wait till the playoffs start before making comments like these. First and second rounds haven't been that easy for the Lakers Lately.I dunno...first round easy...second round...easy...3rd round..either suns, dallas or spurs...after that..finals...road doesnt seem that bad.
Imagine what the spurs have to go through. 1st round Suns..2nd round..Dallas..3rd round Lakers..YIKES!
Bynum would be needed against the Celtics, but that's the only one where he's needed... Pau will work just fine in the WC. That there might be the showstopper from going all the way.
Nuggets are talented but went 0-3 against the Lakers...even without Pau or Bynum. It's a 2 man team that plays no defense. With their talent on paper, they should be a top 4 seed easily.
You can have skill and talent but you can't teach desire.
Lakers in 5.
Either Suns or Spurs will get taken care of in the first round...that's a godsend to the Lakers. Whoever wins Suns/Spurs has to take on Mavs/Hornets.
Lakers in the meanwhile get the Jazz, the Lakers couldn't have picked their opponent better. Lakers in 5 maybe 6.
Lakers have the "easy road" to the Finals if there ever was one.
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