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UTAH 123, LAKERS 115 (OT)
Bryant is injured early, misfires late, and Lakers fail to execute in overtime as Jazz wins to tie series, 2-2. Turiaf is ejected, and Utah's bench outscores L.A.'s, 39-16.
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BILL PLASCHKE
Beset by back spasms, he tries to carry team to victory after having a big hand in forcing extra period. But did his teammates defer too much or did he try to go it alone? >>
MARK HEISLER / ON THE NBA
With back spasms, Kobe Bryant isn't the same, especially late in a 123-115 Lakers overtime loss to the Jazz, although he turns playmaker to help force the extra period. >>
JERRY CROWE
Text messages from press row . . . >>
LAKERS REPORT
Backup center's flagrant foul and ejection in second quarter leaves Lakers short-handed at the position, forcing Gasol to play 48 minutes in overtime loss to Utah. >>
UTAH REPORT
Utah's reserves score a postseason-high 39 points, while Lakers subs account for only 16 points, 11 of them coming from Sasha Vujacic. >>
BILL PLASCHKE
As series with Utah gets tight, Lakers need the hot-and-cold Sasha Vujacic to keep things loose, and to hit a few key jumpers in the bargain. >>
MARK HEISLER / ON THE NBA
They can't wait to get Andrew Bynum back, but that won't be until next season and this bunch is doing OK. >>
NBA PLAYOFFS
Pau Gasol isn't happy with his performance in Game 3, the Lakers' first defeat in more than a month. >>
NBA PLAYOFFS
Utah returns to practice with a chance to even the series on Sunday in Game 4. >>
BEHIND THE LINES
The Lakers are three-point road underdogs for today's Game 4 against Utah in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals. >>
NBA PLAYOFFS
Staff writer Mike Bresnahan ties up loose ends before Lakers playoff games. >>
BILL PLASCHKE
Center's disappearing act at the first sign of playoff adversity is a troubling sign for the Lakers. >>
UTAH 104, LAKERS 99
Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur have big games to get Utah back in the series, as L.A. suffers its first loss of the postseason. >>
JERRY CROWE
Text messages from press row . . . >>
NBA PLAYOFFS
The Utah forward who was unsettled by his less-than-expected performance in Game 2 comes through in Game 3 victory for Jazz. >>
LAKERS REPORT
Fisher has early foul trouble and Farmar can't make a shot as the point guards struggle. >>
MARK HEISLER / ON THE NBA
Lakers' stroll through playoffs is interrupted by their first postseason loss, 104-99 in Utah. Another defeat Sunday and they'll have a serious series on their hands. >>
THE STATS LLC LINE
STATS LLC provides a statistical windfall of information as the Lakers play Utah in Salt Lake City. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
As the longest tenured coach in all of the major professional sports, he sticks to the bread-and-butter pick-and-roll system that has been so effective. He guides team against Lakers again tonight. >>
MARK HEISLER ON THE NBA
It's been a year since the point guard endured one of the most dramatic days in his life -- playing for Utah in a playoff game hours after his daughter underwent cancer surgery. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
A quick lead is the best formula for playing in Utah, where the fans get extra loud. >>
JERRY CROWE
Text messages from press row . . . >>
SOUND AND VISION
Marge Hearn says her late husband would have enjoyed how the Lakers have played so far in the postseason. >>
LAKERS VS. JAZZ
Utah players have a hard time picking out deficiencies in their 120-110 loss on Wednesday night. But they point to the lanky center as a reason that L.A. shot so well. >>
BILL DWYRE
The mere mortals in Los Angeles are used to living alongside some high-powered stars, but the hero worship lavished upon the Lakers star, the newly minted NBA MVP, transcends all. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
Being winless in a best-of-seven playoff series historically has not boded well for NBA teams. But Utah has worked its way out of that hole before. >>
BEHIND THE LINES
His Jazz team is down 2-0 in series to Lakers, but he can hark back to being in a similar situation as a player with Chicago in 1971. >>
LAKERS / BRESNAHAN'S TAKE
Times staff writer Mike Bresnahan ties up some loose ends before Lakers playoff games. >>
T.J. SIMERS
With the NBA commissioner in town and probably hoping for a Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals, the referees get whistle-happy against Utah. >>
BILL PLASCHKE
They are operating at a different speed, and Utah has no answer for the league's newly minted MVP. >>
LAKERS 120, UTAH 110
Bryant gets MVP trophy, then leads Lakers to 2-0 edge in series. >>
LAKERS REPORT
If the 20-year-old center doesn't feel better in three to four weeks, he might have exploratory surgery on a sore left knee that has kept him sidelined since Jan. 13. >>
MARK HEISLER / ON THE NBA
When do the playoffs start? >>
BILL PLASCHKE
What makes the Lakers guard so difficult off the court is precisely what makes him so great on the court. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
Kobe gets 82 first-place votes to easily outdistance runner-up Paul of New Orleans. >>
JERRY CROWE
Text messages from press row . . . >>
BEHIND THE LINES
They have made it look easy so far in playoffs. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
Utah, down 1-0, will try for a split in L.A. before heading home, where it lost only four times in the regular season. >>
LAKERS / BRESNAHAN'S TAKE
Staff writer Mike Bresnahan ties up some loose ends before Lakers playoff games. >>
LAKERS UPDATE
Kobe admits he didn't think he'd win the award during his career, but he says team's focus is on next series against the Utah Jazz. >>
MARK HEISLER / ON THE NBA
Last May, the Lakers star was trashing the organization, on his way to demanding a trade. This May he's MVP and they're back in title hunt. How'd they get from there to here? >>
CROWE'S NEST
Former Lakers coach was there at creation, when Globetrotters impresario Abe Saperstein introduced the three-point shot in the short-lived American Basketball League. >>
LAKERS REPORT
After being thoroughly overwhelmed on the boards, 58-41, in Game 1 victory, the Lakers work on increasing physicality. The Jazz has issues too, mainly how to deal with Kobe Bryant. >>
MARK HEISLER / ON THE NBA
Sloan says the right things but doesn’t appear too happy with his team after the Game 1 loss to Lakers. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
Utah forward Carlos Boozer says limiting the Lakers star's free throws and defending him better are keys to avoiding a second-round exit. >>
T.J. SIMERS
A review of Lakers playoff game No. 5 -- 11 wins to go >>
BILL PLASCHKE
His franchise-playoff record 21 made free throws are what makes the difference in Sunday's Lakers' victory over the Utah Jazz. Coach Phil Jackson calls it the team's 'biggest scoring threat.' >>
LAKERS 109, UTAH 98
They take all the punishment the rugged Jazz doles out and make enough free throws to win Game 1 of second-round series. Bryant has 38 points, a team-record 21 of them at the line. >>
LAKERS REPORT
They are outrebounded, 58-41, in Game 1 victory over Utah, including 25-8 on the offensive glass. That 'won't work,' Odom says. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
Despite his relative inexperience, the guard gets to choose the team's plays, as his coach defers. But his usually reliable shooting was missing Sunday against the Lakers. >>
BILL PLASCHKE
Last spring, in a whirlwind of events that captured the attention of a nation, a cancerous tumor was discovered in the left eye of his infant daughter. >>
LAKERS Q & A
L.A.'s newest impact player talks about living in Southern California, things he likes about being in the Southland, his life away from the court and much more. >>
MARK HEISLER ON THE NBA
Stockton and Malone have been replaced by Williams and Boozer, but this much hasn't changed: Utah, and Sloan, still figure to be thorns in Lakers' side. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
Lakers and league MVP Bryant haven't had a game in six days since sweeping Denver. They're eager to get back into it in the second round against Utah. >>
NBA PLAYOFFS
The NBA today revised the schedule for the Lakers-Utah playoff series. >>
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak may have assembled the Lakers, but not all the fans are sold. >>
LAKERS REPORT
Bryant says the Lakers are 'antsy' to play. Bynum says there is only a remote chance he'd be able to return this season. >>
NBA
Stern will make the official presentation to Lakers star next week. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
The website 82games.com offers all manner of esoteric NBA statistics, and different ways to break down the teams' Western Conference semifinal series. >>
NBA PLAYOFFS
Teams meet in second round of Western Conference playoffs >>
PRO BASKETBALL
Gasol fits perfectly into the triangle, making the offense work as well as it ever has. >>
LAKERS REPORT
With no second-round opponent yet, Jackson has to prepare for anything. >>
LAKERS REPORT
Players are enjoying the time off and express no concern about an extended layoff. >>
MARK HEISLER / ON THE NBA
Kobe leads Lakers to the second round for the first time since the O'Neal trade. >>
LAKERS REPORT
They won't know second-round opponent until Friday at the earliest. >>
T.J. SIMERS
Carmelo Anthony sounds a theme familiar to Lakers fans, but in the end his team is no match and is swept by Kobe Bryant and Co. >>
BILL PLASCHKE
Lakers did what no other playoff team could do this season. >>
LAKERS 107, DENVER 101
They survive sluggish second half in Denver, surge at finish and complete series sweep to reach second round for first time since 2004. Bryant scores 14 of his 31 in final 5:31. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
A big playoff splash goes waiting as the small forward, whose Nuggets' teams are only 4-20 in the postseason with him, loses in the first round for the fifth straight year. >>
MARK HEISLER / ON THE NBA
Even their best game of the series isn't enough to prevent a Lakers' sweep of the ideal first-round opponent. >>
LAKERS REPORT
Nuggets guard compares atmosphere at Staples Center to those in Sacramento and Utah. That could be a first. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
General manager, a frequent target of criticism from fans, media and even his star player, just rolled with the punches, until one great trade revitalized the team and his reputation. >>
MARK HEISLER ON THE NBA
Despite the addition of Allen Iverson, Denver continues to underachieve and is just about back in familiar territory. >>
LAKERS REPORT
Lakers are eager to get out of Denver with a first-round series sweep, against an opponent that appears to be coming apart from within. >>
PRO BASKETBALL
Staff writer Mike Bresnahan ties up some loose ends before Lakers playoff games. >>
T.J. SIMERS
The Nuggets are providing little opposition in the opening round of the playoffs. >>
BILL PLASCHKE
After its worst performance yet, Denver isn't giving the Lakers much to measure themselves against. >>
MARK HEISLER ON THE NBA
Even though he has nine NBA championships, he has been honored as the coach of the year only once. And his job this season with the Lakers has been worthy of more accolades. >>
LAKERS 102, DENVER 84
They take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series with a balanced effort against the Nuggets, who appear to have packed it in. >>
NBA
The Hall of Famer will remain team president; assistant coach Erik Spoelstra will replace Riley. >>
LAKERS REPORT
Forward should be available during the second round. >>
NUGGETS REPORT
Nuggets don't make any changes, but they probably need some to extend the series. >>
MARK HEISLER / ON THE NBA
Nothing's working -- not the tempo, not the crowd and certainly not their defense against Bryant. >>
LAKERS 102, DALLAS 100
Reeling from Gasol injury and two straight losses on difficult trip, L.A. hangs on to beat Mavericks and moves back into first-place tie in West. >>
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