Lakers send Jazz's dreams crashing

SALT LAKE CITY--One team, one dream . . . over.

"One team, one dream" was the spring's motto here, at least until Friday night when the Lakers led from beginning to end, going up by as many as 19 points, holding off the hard-charging Jazz to win, 108-105, capturing this second-round series, 4-2, and advancing to the Western Conference finals.

"For me to be a part of the team that has to eliminate them . . . [hurts] for me a little bit personally," said Derek Fisher, a member of the Jazz last season, "but I think they've shown they're here to stay."

It was only the second road win for any team in the second round of the NBA playoffs, coming against a team that was 41-6 at home this season.

Unfortunately, two of the losses here were to the Lakers, including this inopportune one.

For the young Jazz, coming off 51- and 54-win seasons, this series was another test of how ready they are for prime time.

This just in: Not quite yet.

"We're very confident we can play against them," said Coach Jerry Sloan after Game 5 in Staples Center.

"When we came here, they had already won the championship. . . . I think everybody pretty much assumed that was the way it was going to be and they're a great team.

"Our guys are young. They're trying to learn how to take another step to be able to play against a team of that caliber."

Exactly what caliber the Lakers were depended on Kobe Bryant's status, which has been a guessing game since he hurt his back.

Before Game 5, Coach Phil Jackson was terse to non-communicative when asked about Bryant, leaving the impression the subject was beneath discussion and Kobe would be fine.

Bryant then buried outside shots in the Lakers' first two possessions, giving the Jazz and everyone else the distinct impression he was fine . . . then he wound up taking only four shots after the first quarter, making himself a decoy and setting up his teammates.

Before Friday's game, Jackson was asked how Bryant looked at their shootaround that afternoon.

"You know, he had a white warmup on," said Jackson. "And his shoes were really polished. He looked really spiffy."

He looked pretty good in the game, too.

If Bryant wasn't all the way back, he was closer.

As for the home team, let's just say the young Jazz players picked a bad time to forget how to play the game.

They took quick shots, didn't run their offense and found themselves out of it, trailing by by 17 in the fourth quarter before making the late push that brought them within 105-103 with 15 seconds left.

The Jazz even had a chance to tie the score at the end, trailing by three points after Derek Fisher missed the second of two free throws, but Mehmet Okur and Deron Williams missed three-pointers.

That was that. Say good-bye to the loudest arena in the world for another season.

mark.heisler@latimes.com