Listen to all the Post-game interviews in the audio section of the website.

-This game was very similar to Game 1.  The Jazz struggled in the first half only to kick it in gear and play much better in the 2nd, particularly in the 4th to pull as close as five.  For all the effort that’s not good enough against this Laker team.  Unless they can figure out how to put four quarters together this series will be very short.  The positive outlook is the Jazz have played like crap but still pulled close both times.  The negative is they continue to play like crap and are now down 0-2.  As Ross Siler just told me, only 13 teams have come back from a 0-2 Jazz deficit.  Utah was one of those teams pulling it off against Houston a year ago.  These Lakers are not the Rockets.

-When AK and Paul Millsap are more productive than Carlos Boozer you have serious problems.  Boozer is flat out awful.  We are talking Karl Malone meltdown here.  Actually it’s worse.  At least Malone would for the most part just choke at the FT line.  Boozer isn’t even getting there.  It’s clear he’s lost confidence and I gather his teammates are losing faith in him as well.  His jumper continues to be erratic and he refuses to attack the rim like he should.  As for his foul trouble which he blamed all his problems on tonight, I’d be willing to give him some credit if they were aggressive hard fouls but he seems to be picking up ticky-tack calls.  I’m starting to think the Jazz at this point would be better off starting Millsap. 

-Deron Williams struggled once again in the first half but was more aggressive in the second although watching him here at courtside he was letting the refs get to him a bit.  But probably as big of a surprise as Boozer completely collapsing is that Derek Fisher won the point guard battle.  Granted DWill went crazy with the three’s towards the end of the game but Fisher got his points when it really counted.  He’s getting plenty of help defensively it’s just I would never have guessed this would have been the case.

-The Lakers are exposing the Jazz defensively.  They attack the rim whenever they need to regularly getting to the line causing that massive FT line disparity.  And when the Jazz leave them open from outside they have the ability to hit.  As for Kobe...well he’s Kobe and no matter what the Jazz throw at him it’s not going to work.  To reiterate from the last blog posting…only Kobe can stop Kobe.

-Gordon was right on about Staples Center being all about the show.  The pre-game introductions were impressive.  The crowd is into it but is not even close to being as loud as Jazz fans.  I mean at one point they broke into the wave.  The wave?  I thought this crowd was too hip for that kind of stuff.  Of course they also broke into “Utah Sucks” chants periodically and at the end of the game it was the “sweep” chant.  As for the Laker girls… oh the Laker girls.  Very hot but one minor complaint.  They all have the exact same body type.  Tight.  Not that’s such a bad thing.  Just a little variety would be nice.