Lakers - MVP Kobe Bryant takes game 1 from Utah
NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.
Kobe about to be fouled
Image details: Utah Jazz v Los Angeles Lakers, Game 1 served by picapp.com
Kobe is expected to be presented with the NBA MVP award, but he got in a hurry and put on an MVP performance for the LA crowd in defeating the Utah Jazz.
Los Angeles 109 Utah 98
Kobe set a foul shooting franchise record.
Bryant, celebrating what’s expected to be his first NBA MVP award, converted six of his franchise playoff-record 21 foul shots in the fourth quarter, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Utah Jazz 109-98 Sunday to begin the second round of the playoffs.
So just how good are the Lakers?
The Lakers were outrebounded by the Utah Jazz 58-41 on Sunday afternoon. The disparity in offensive rebounds was even more pronounced, 25-8. No surprise then that the Jazz also posted a significant edge in second-chance points, 26-12.
I don’t offer these numbers as mere arithmetic, but as statistical anomalies in evidence of just how good the Lakers really are. The team that controls the boards — especially the offensive boards, especially come playoff time — is almost always the winning team. But these Lakers do so many things so well — a more diversely talented team than any in the game — they can actually overcome an ass-kicking on the glass.
Mehmet Okur had 21 points and 19 rebounds in the losing cause.
Kobe had 38 points 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Not a bad night for the MVP.
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POSTED IN: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz
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