Second-Round Showdown – Game 4

MAY 10| MON |ROUND 2, GAME 4| (1) Lakers vs. (5) Jazz : LAL lead 3-0

The Lakers are one win closer to reaching the Western Conference Finals for the 3rd consecutive season.

The Jazz are a loss closer to an earlier vacation.

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Los Angeles showed poise in Game 3, winning 111-110.

Bryant, Fisher, Artest dropped the Lakers last 10 of their 13 three’s as a team.

It was a shootout in the last 2 minutes.

The Lakers and Jazz were hitting back-to-back shots, and Utah had a chance to win the game after an inbound miscue between Artest and Fisher with a few ticks away.

But after Williams missed a 15-footer, and Mathews’ tip-in was just short, it was L.A. who were holding their heads up high. Now approaching one round closer to their goal.

Here are the keys for the game:

KEYS FOR THE GAME:

Keeping the Laker Tune

L.A. can end the series now. It was take a great deal of effort to beat this relentless Jazz group coached by Jerry Sloan.

Size Matters

The fact of the matter is, the Jazz can’t contain the length of the Lakers. L.A. will put them away with that one notion. Even though Utah tried to take it away, it helped them end the game on a 8-2 run.

Aggressive Facilitation

The Lakers can move the ball and help the offense fluctuate by attacking their game plan. Kobe can facilitate and be aggressive with his scoring as the Jazz have no answer for him.

Lamar Odom & Co.

Odom and the bench don’t need to score a ton of points to be productive. But that can go a long way with the Jazz reserve unit holding Paul Milsap, Kyle Korver, and Ronnie PriceWith the scoring potential they possess, the Lakers’ bench will have to be attentive on both ends of the floor.

Limiting D-Will-Boozer Connection

Williams thrives off getting guys in transition and creating shots for his teammates. L.A. will have to keep their attention on who is preferring to. In many cases, the duo of him and Boozer will be the default. Gasol and Odom usually do a good job defensively on Boozer, so its to be expected that they’ll continue this.

PROJECTED STARTERS:

LAKERS:
(C) A. Bynum
(PF) P. Gasol
(SF) R. Artest
(SG) K. Bryant
(PG) D. Fisher

X-Factor: Lamar Odom and bench play. Front-court.

JAZZ:
(C) K. Fesenko
(PF) C. Boozer
(SF) C. Miles
(SG) W. Matthews
(PG) D. Williams

X-Factor: Paul Milsap & Wesley Matthews.

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