Lakers, Spurs pulling wool over Jazz, Hornets' eyes

Tied at 2-2 each in the Western Conference semifinals, the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Hornets are seeing gold despite their different paths taken towards reaching a tie at four games with the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers and defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

Fool’s gold, that is.

As great as Deron Williams (23.5 points, 13 assists average in games three and four) and the Jazz have been in the last two games at Salt Lake City against L.A., the mismatch is still there after game two. Yes, Utah has pulled itself out of a 2-0 hole by winning the home games it’s supposed to win, but as a 41-5 team at Energy Solutions Arena, Utah’s normally expected to dominate, not fend off a Laker team with an injured Most Valuable Player.

The Jazz proved that they are a competitive playoff team after games three and four, putting down any notions of a lack of intensity shown in the first two contests — both double-digit Laker victories — at the Staples Center. But Jerry Sloan’s physical Jazz didn’t prove that they could win this series.

Most of us basketball fans knew the Lakers weren’t going to sweep the Jazz; Utah’s too good to be swept. But for the Jazz to have to fight for a win in the last two games at home doesn’t look too good when L.A. returns home for game five Wednesday night. Utah had to scratch and claw away from Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and others in game three by five points.
Game four looked to be a double-digit rout of the Lakers, until the West’s top team powered back behind a tremendous performance by Odom (26 points on 10-for-18 shooting, 13 rebounds), who made a clutch 3-pointer and tip-in off a Bryant miss to force overtime. The Jazz did win in overtime, but by only eight points.

Bryant, bad back and all, still gave Andrei Kirilenko fits and scored 33 points, but needed 33 shots to get there. L.A. outplayed Utah in spurts more than vice versa and that’s the issue Utah will need to nail down in order to win the series. Kobe remains injured, and his health will determine how the Lakers will fare for the rest of the series.

But Utah didn’t convince me past this second round. The Jazz, despite having one of the best point guards in the league, squeaked back into this series. Compare the Lakers’ wins to the Jazz’s wins in the series and anyone can tell that the purple and gold didn’t lose too much ground.

Neither did the San Antonio Spurs, who have the young, brash New Orleans Hornets right where they want them. The Spurs, who were embarrassed in games one and two at New Orleans (101-82, 102-84) returned the misery back to Chris Paul and company with a 110-98 game three triumph and ensured a game six with a dominant 100-80 game four win. It’s a new series now, and it may go Spur-style this time around.

Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili form the most dynamic trio in the NBA. They can’t be shut down all at once. The experience and defense of this team has turned my eyes once again. Gregg Popovich doesn’t get enough credit for his efforts; he is a playoff coach who knows how to win. Phil Jackson could be looking over his shoulder for another revered head coach in NBA history.

I picked the Spurs to lose for the third consecutive series, but they’ve played good defense against that as well. Although Phoenix was screwed out of the playoffs last year, San Antonio is evidently the better team and is proving why New Orleans’s brilliance in the postseason will be put to the ultimate test.