LAS VEGAS – The problem wasn't so much the 38-hour turnaround for the Jazz in opening the Western Conference semifinals Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Lakers as it was falling behind by 17 points in the second quarter.

The Jazz spent the second half clawing back in the game, nearly going from Skid Row to Rodeo Drive in the process. However, they couldn’t get any closer than four points with 4:44 remaining before falling 109-98 at Staples Center.

The Lakers easily covered as 8 ½-point home favorites, with the combined 207 points ducking ‘under’ the 213-point closing total. The ‘under’ is now 3-1 in the last four meetings between the Jazz and Lakers.

It certainly didn’t help Utah’s cause that the Lakers shot a whopping 46 free throws (making 38), compared to 22-of-30 at the charity stripe for the visiting Jazz. In fact, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was 21-of-23 from the free-throw line by himself.

The Lakers succeeded at taking the Jazz out of their offense in the second quarter. The Jazz went 7-for-25 - missing six of seven three-pointers - and committed seven turnovers. Utah entered the quarter down by a point, but wound up trailing by as many as 17.

But it wasn’t just the foul discrepancy that hurt the Jazz. They had one of their worst shooting performances of the season, a showing that blew a hole in their offensive strategy at 37 percent. That sickly number kicked them in the shorts, despite getting 56 points in the paint. Utah hit just 4 of 19 shots from behind the arc.

And it wasn't just that the Jazz out-rebounded the Lakers by 13 (64-51) and still suffered a double-digit defeat. The Jazz handled the ball in the second quarter as though they were wearing wool mittens, fumbling the ball away 11 times in first half.

The Lakers and Jazz have dramatically flip-flopped places as far as being favored, and it has much to do with the Lakers' acquisition of Pau Gasol and what he's brought them. He scored 18 points in Sunday’s Game 1, making 8 of 13 shots and hauling down 10 boards.

Match that with Bryant’s 38 points and seven assists, and the Lakers' leapfrogging of the Jazz is likely complete. It was the Jazz that had burst onto the playoff scene a year ago, going all the way to the Western Conference finals.

Although they overcame a 2-0 series deficit to beat Houston in the first round of last year's playoffs, the Jazz would like to avoid having to do the same against a Lakers team that is 5-0 SU in the playoffs and has won 13 of its last 14 games overall.

The team that captures Game 1 has gone on to win 78.4 percent of best-of-seven series in NBA history.

The Lakers are now 33-11 SU and 23-21 ATS at home this season, with the ‘over’ going 23-20. Utah is now 19-26 both SU and ATS on the road, with the ‘over’ going 23-21.

Phil Jackson’s club is outscoring the opposition at home by nine points per game (111-102), while Jerry Sloan’s troops are getting outscored by one point per game on the road (103-102).

May 7, 2008