Lakers Almost Put to Sweep

What as recently as a week ago appeared to be their drive toward the brink of greatness has instead become a mournful walk to the brink of elimination for the stunned Lakers, their dreams within reach suddenly replaced by the very real Utah Jazz.

“You go from one side of the coin to the other rather quickly,” Derek Fisher said.

These are the Lakers, flipped on their tails. Not merely facing elimination, but also the prospect of getting swept after the Jazz won Game 3 of the Western Conference finals Friday night, 109-98, before 17,505 at the Great Western Forum, putting what was the hottest team in the playoffs at the start of the best-of-seven series in a hole from which no team has emerged.

That the Lakers must now do it against the sturdiest team in the league makes the task all the more improbable, and, realistically, impossible. No NBA club has escaped from a 0-3 stranglehold, and one that is getting such a lack of production from its backcourt and watching the opposition continue to post impressive shooting numbers doesn’t exactly seem the likeliest of candidates.

“It don’t look good,” Nick Van Exel admitted after missing 11 of 13 shots, while fellow guard Eddie Jones made only six of 19 attempts. “I know they’re going to try to knock us out. We need to come out and show some heart and win one.”

The Lakers’ chance comes Sunday afternoon at the Forum. Their chance Friday came in the fourth quarter, just like Game 2, and was missed, just like Game 2.

They were turned away despite 39 points and 15 rebounds by Shaquille O’Neal. They were turned away as Shandon Anderson scored 11 of his 13 points in the final period for the Jazz, helping to offset a down night for Karl Malone, a down night coming with the 26 points and 10 rebounds because he was only nine of 22 from the field. Utah’s other small forwards also provided a major lift, Bryon Russell going for 17 points and Chris Morris 15.

Never were they bigger than midway through the fourth quarter, accounting for 12 consecutive Jazz points, Anderson with nine and Russell three, part of it coming in the 8-2 run that allowed Utah to take control for good. The score was 94-87 with 4:35 remaining at the conclusion of that rally, and the Lakers never got closer than four the rest of the way.

“It’s very frustrating,” O’Neal said. “We played with no emotion. I just think they wanted it more than we did.”

No emotion, in the first home game of the series, the latest a playoff game had been played at the Forum in seven years.

The other team wanting it more, in what basically was the final chance to get back in the series.

“We should be [embarrassed],” O’Neal said. “We didn’t play with any emotion, any fire. We didn’t play with any heart.”

Fitting. Today, they don’t really have any chance.

“Everybody’s a little down,” Kobe Bryant said. “Everybody’s a little upset. We should be.”

The breakdowns were more than emotional, as if those weren’t bad enough. For the second time in three chances in the series, the Lakers got off to a poor offensive start. At least in Game 1, they managed to hide it by also having a poor offensive finish. Friday, returning home after having beat the Jazz here in both meetings during the regular season, they shot 33.3% in the first quarter and 37.5% in the half.

This came as the Jazz shot 52.9%, even with Malone at two of seven.

That the Jazz would do so well in this area was hardly a surprise--it had finished No. 1 in the league during the regular season at 49%. But Utah was an uncharacteristic 10th among the 16 playoff participants, at 43.9%.

And then:

Game 1--53.8%.

Game 2--51.5%.

Game 3--52%.

The Lakers, meanwhile, were a combined 37.5% in this series coming in, and fading fast by halftime of what was supposed to be their chance to regroup. The guards were still killing them, with Jones, having relocated his spark for the second half Monday at Salt Lake City, starting one of 10 upon the return to the Forum and Van Exel at one of four after beginning the night five of 21 in the series.

“We’ve had a history of up and down in that area,” Harris had said of his backcourt during the off days. “They’re liable to come out and make every shot in our next game. That’s something we’ve gone through before. I think even already in the first two series, we had some games where they didn’t do well, and just about when everybody was about to give up on them, they came up with big nights.”

Friday simply wasn’t looking like one of them. Jones made a three-point shot in transition with 4:19 left in the third quarter, a big basket because it capped a run that had cut the Jazz lead from 60-53 to 61-60 and prompted a Utah timeout, but then missed his next two field goals and was three for 15 heading into the final period. Van Exel, meanwhile, had six consecutive misses.

It was more than Shaquille O’Neal could overcome. He had 39 points and 15 rebounds--but he also had his back to the wall, just like all the Lakers.

* THE X-FACTORS: C9

* KEYS TO THE GAME: C9

* CHARTING THE GAME: C10