Capsule preview of the Jazz-Lakers series

5/3/2008 11:07 AM

By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer

A look at the matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz in the second round of the NBA playoffs, which begins Sunday (with regular-season record, first-round series mark in parentheses):

Season Series: Lakers, 3-1, with three of the meetings coming back in late 2007. The Lakers won the most recent game, handing the Jazz one of their four home losses with a 106-95 victory on March 20. All the games were decided by double digits, and the Lakers shot a combined 54 percent from the field in their wins.

Storyline: The Lakers had an easy time with Denver in the first round, giving them plenty of rest before facing the physical Jazz. Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer will score against the Lakers, but the Jazz must defend much better than they did while yielding 111 points per game in the regular-season series - and they never even faced Los Angeles with Pau Gasol in the lineup.

Key Matchup I: Kobe Bryant vs. Ronnie Brewer. The athletic Brewer likely gets the first crack at defending Bryant, who torched the Jazz for 29.8 points on 56 percent shooting and made 10 of 18 3-pointers. Brewer did have some of his best offensive numbers against the Lakers, scoring 14.8 points per game. Andrei Kirilenko and perhaps even Williams could get turns at Bryant.

Key Matchup II: Gasol vs. Boozer. Boozer averaged 16 points and 11.7 rebounds in the first round against Houston, but shot an uncharacteristically low 43 percent. Gasol had things much easier in his first postseason with the Lakers, shooting 58 percent while recording 22.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Gasol was out with a sprained ankle when the teams met in March, so the Jazz haven't experienced his impact on the triangle offense yet.

X-Factor: Paul Millsap. Utah's energetic second-year reserve had one of his best games of the season when he started in Boozer's place on Nov. 30, scoring 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbing nine rebounds in the lone Jazz victory. He totaled only 22 points in the other three games, and the Jazz need more of a spark than that.

Prediction: Lakers in 6.