Scouting Report / Lakers (61-21, 7-2) vs. Utah Jazz (62-20, 7-3)

* About the Lakers: No team is scoring more, shooting better, passing for more assists and blocking more shots during the postseason, and only the New York Knicks were more accurate on three-point baskets. These being the Lakers, they’re also 16th and last among all playoff participants from the free-throw line, but this has been nothing less than an impressive march to the Western Conference finals, their first such trip since 1991. They do not have home-court advantage, but are the only team to win at the Delta Center other than the Washington Wizards, Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle SuperSonics and Miami Heat, and join Portland and Washington as the only teams to win the season series. The 3-1 mark against the Jazz was the major accomplishment in the Lakers’ 26-2 record against the Midwest Division, the Houston Rockets accounting for the other loss. Another victory at Utah in the opener will give the Lakers a five-game winning streak in the playoffs for the first time since 1989. Overall, counting the end of the regular season, they have won 12 of 14 and 29 of their last 34.

* About the Jazz: Utah’s endless search for a starting small forward has led to Bryon Russell, again. One of the stars of last season’s run to the finals--most notably the 16.2-point scoring average in the second round against the Lakers--the San Bernardino High and Cal State Long Beach product lost the job to Adam Keefe in the third week of 1997-98. But Coach Jerry Sloan went back to Russell for Game 5 of the first-round series against the Rockets and then Games 4 and 5 of the conference semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs, and the Jazz won each time. He hadn’t been in the opening lineup twice in a row since November. Keefe, from Woodbridge High in Irvine, had played well, but Sloan wanted the presence of three-point threat Russell to stretch the defense. It comes as the Jazz is 10th among the 16 playoff participants in field-goal accuracy at 43.9%, a major fall for the team that finished No. 1 in the league during the regular season at 49%.

* Keys to the series: The first two rounds have been impressive, but this offers the greatest test of the Lakers’ sometimes-fragile composure, maybe even more than if they make the finals. They must be able to withstand the frustration that will come when Jazz players ride them on screens in the lane and what surely will be a physical matchup with Karl Malone. If Utah gets the Lakers distracted, it will be huge. The Jazz will try to force a half-court tempo to counter the Lakers’ superior athleticism, but the Lakers--although losing opportunities for easy baskets off turnovers--can handle this as long as they continue to make shots from the perimeter with anywhere near the success as the previous series against Seattle. That would force the Jazz to make a difficult choice between doubling off three-point weapons or playing Shaquille O’Neal straight up.