FROM THE SALT MINES

What papers in the Salt Lake City area are saying about the series:

LOREN JORGENSEN, THE DESERET NEWS

Thank you, Rony Seikaly.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

That’s what the Utah Jazz have to be thinking right now. The two players the Jazz unceremoniously sent packing to Orlando for Seikaly three months ago, Greg Foster and Chris Morris, both came up huge Saturday afternoon in Utah’s surprisingly easy 112-77 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Game 2 will no doubt be closer. But if Foster and Morris come through like they did on Saturday, chances are the Jazz will head to L.A. with a 2-0 series lead.

What would have happened if Seikaly had shown up? Who knows and who cares. It doesn’t matter now. Foster and Morris are still wearing Jazz uniforms and have been more productive than ever.

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MICHAEL C. LEWIS, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

It might have been fun while it lasted, but nobody among the Jazz believes for a second that what happened to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference finals will happen again in Game 2 tonight.

Not Karl Malone.

Not John Stockton.

And certainly not Coach Jerry Sloan.

“I don’t think that game was any indication of what we have to look forward to,” said Sloan.

Which, if the snarls are to be believed, is quite a bit of fury. The Lakers were growling enough before the best-of-seven series even began. They are downright furious now, in the wake of the worst playoff loss in franchise history and a belief that center Shaquille O’Neal was beaten up without proper recourse.