Bresnahan’s take

Q&A; of the day

Question: Pau GaSOFT and Lamar Odom better toughen up and rebound. The Lakers can survive getting outrebounded by the Nuggets but will lose the series to Utah if they don’t improve. Also, how in the world do you defend the Jazz when they implement their baseline screens? Their players were getting wide open directly under the basket.

-- James Lee

Answer: And that was sent after a Lakers victory.

View from the other bench

Utah forward Carlos Boozer, on Kobe Bryant’s winning the MVP award: “He’s been the best player in the game for five, six, seven years, but now he has the MVP trophy to go along with it. I’m proud for him, but we still want to go out there and spoil their party a little bit and get a win.”

Worst-case Lakers scenario

David Stern drops the MVP trophy, Mehmet Okur actually improves on his season-high 19 rebounds from Game 1, and Utah gains a 1-1 split in L.A.

Best-case Lakers scenario

The party starts with the MVP presentation and doesn’t end until purple-and-gold streamers fall from the ceiling after a Lakers victory.

Final thought

The Lakers will need to wear mouth guards, throw on some rib pads, whatever it takes to absorb more fouls from the league’s most foul-happy team. Here’s guessing they will.