10:02 - Luke sets up Kwame nicely for a strong, two handed dunk.  As we always remind Kwame, "both hands 24/7."  But when he does remember, look out, because that's a hella big body to stop.

9:42 - Smooth job by Ronny putting the ball on the floor and cobverting the layup.  For Ronny, turnovers are always a concern (as evidenced by the traveling call he picked up one possession later), so I like seeing exhibit a handle that doesn't go haywire.

You tell me.  Did Kobe carry the ball?  Didn't look like it from up here and they didn't show a replay on the broadcast we're watching in the press row.

5:33 - Kwame picks up his second offensive foul (both came attempting to get position on Okur), which means he'll be sitting for some time.  This will be a nice test for Andrew Bynum to see how well he can do holding down the fort against the Utah starters.

3:20- Bynum cleans up the Turiaf miss, and lays it in.  Took the board away from (I think) Brewer, and put it back in.  This game has been changed drastically by the play of Bynum and Farmar... and Kobe, who has been extremely patient in forcing his offense onto the game. He's distributed, and also taken higher percentage looks for himself.  He's up to 31 points, but still hasn't taken 20 shots. 

3:04- Lakers now up by 13.  Barring a total collapse in the final three, the Lakers will move to 2-1, with two impressive wins over two good teams.

4:43 - Well, Bynum's dunk was nice start to the above mentioned start.  Unfortunately, he picked up a foul on the ensuing Utah possession.

3:45 - Fish's bounce pass to a streaking Kobe goes wide and into the stands.  SEVENTH turnover of the quarter.  That's awful, which makes the eighth coming 33 seconds later (Fish travel) even awful-er.

1:28 - Bynum picks up his second foul.  At the next dead ball, Chris Mihm comes into the game.  If Mihm's looking to get more run this season (and one has to assume he is), this is a nice opportunity for him, because Phil may have to keep him on the floor for a bit.

First quarter ends.  Lakers 25, Utah 21.  It's actually pretty astonishing they're ahead, considering they've coughed the rock up 8 times and saw their two best centers get into foul trouble.  Thankfully, Utah's been pretty sloppy with the ball themselves (5 turnovers) and the Lakers won the rebound battle.  But the game will need to get tighter if the Lakers are gonna come out on top.  We'll see.  BK at the helm for the second.

Second quarter:

10:30- Lakers have Mihm, Vlad Rad, Farmar, Evans, and Cook on the floor.  BYnum and Brown with a pair of fouls each.  It'll be interesting to se where the scoring comes from with this unit.  Or, more accurately, if there is any scoring from this unit.

But if they can buy PJ another two or three minutes, that'll be enough.

9:10- Vlad Rad pushes the break to Mihm, who feeds to Farmar to finish with the baby baseline J. Not exactly the crew you'd picture leading the break, but well executed, especially by Mihm who pulled up and passed off before he blew through the defender for the offensive foul.

Good pressure defensively from Mo on the next possession to force the Utah turnover and easy dunk.  The Lakers are picking up the Jazz very early as they come across the halfcourt line.  Aggressive, and keeping them from establishing a rhythm in the halfcourt offense.

7:33- The second unit has bought that time, as Kobe is back in the lineup.  He just abused the Jazz, who overplayed him coming off the screen.  Kobe just ducked in between the pick and the defender and forced Collins into a foul. 

By the way, and apropos to nothing in particular, I've finally settled on the look Radmanovic is currently sporting- short hair, scraggly beard.  I'm going with "Prison Camp."

6:05- Kwame to reenter for Mihm.  Hopefully he can avoid that quick third.

5:52- Aggressive help and doubling on Okur at the elbow forces another Utah turnover.  The energy on the defensive end has been very good.  This isn't like the first quarter of the Houston or Phoenix games, where the Lakers got a little lucky in that those teams missed some very open looks.  Tonight, the Lakers are making the Jazz grind for every point.  Unfortunately, because they've turned the ball over ten times already, the Lakers haven't really taken full advantage.

Starting five back on the court, as Ronny, Fish, and Walton return.

Another turnover.  That's 11.

5:08- Timeout on the floor.  The Lakers have done a good job on the defensive end (holding Utah to 46%) but need to be much more responsible with the ball.  Of course, with 11 turnovers of their own, the same could be said for the Jazz. 

4:31- Okur is able to establish position in the post, and the Lakers weren't able to stop the ball coming up the floor.  That led to an easy entry, and Okur was able to draw the foul and go to the line.  38 all.   

3:40- Boozer back in the game. It'll be interesting to see what happens here, b/c the lakers on the last couple possessions haven't quite controlled the flow of Utah's offense as well.  Kwame will have to work hard to keep Boozer from establishing position, and the Lakers will have to work to keep him away from the ball.

Again, Kwame comes out and shows aggressively on the screen.  The Lakers have been doing it all night, and it's been very effective.

2:48- Utah is doing a much better job establishing their offense deeper into the half court.  Everything is much closer to the basket.  Meanwhile, the Lakers have gone fairly icey.  Q1, they shot 62.5%.  They're down to 47%.  Not a good combination.  This looks like a game destined to be pretty tight at the half.

Halftime: Jazz 51, Lakers 46.

The defense actually held up relatively well in the second quarter, given how poorly the Lakers played on the other end.  7-21 in Q2.  Obviously, that won't do the trick. And they'd better be careful, because Utah is clearly starting to find a rhythm offensively.  The Lakers aren't disrupting their cuts and screens as well, as the Jazz have done a nice job of increasing their ball movement and establishing their offense closer to the basket.  Boozer has set up a lot out high since returning to the game, pulling Kwame out and then diving to the basket to either find space, or more effectively, find an open man moving. 

Overall, the Lakers are a little lucky to be where they are given their turnovers (11) and poor Q2 shooting.  But on the other hand, it's a wasted opporutnity, too, since Utah gave them plenty of chances to build a lead early. 

We'll see how they respond in the third.  AK will have the quarter.

Third quarter:

10:42 - Kwame gets an assist from Ronny to set up a nice, uncontested throw down.  The "scoring" music?  A snippet of Metallica's "Master of Puppets."  I don't know if that was the PA being creative or Kwame's actual choice, but if he's looking to set up a bit of an intimidation factor per score, solid ditty by #54.

8:48 - Kwame throws a nice bounce pass into the paint for Luke, who goes up, misses, gets his rebound, misses, then Ronny tips it in.  Nice to see everyone working together.

8:00 - Ronny picks up an offensive, his fourth foul in 16 minutes.  Vlad comes in to replace him.  For Ronny, this will be the battle that dictates his effectiveness.  Foul trouble will make or break his success as a starter.

5:46 - Kwame misses a layup, snags his board, then clangs the jam attempt off the rim.  In both cases, he rushed it.  Just... gotta... slow... down.

4:35 - I couldn't tell if Kwame got a piece of Boozer's nine footer, but he definitely altered it.  And in any event, he's got four blocks on the night, so that's getting the job done.

2:44 - Bynum can't hang onto Vlad's bounce pass into the paint, leading to a Ronnie Brewer steal and a Boozer jumper from 11 feet.  C'mon, Drew.  You got better mitts than that, son!

1:50 - Excellent defensive rebound in traffic by Bynum on Paul Millsap's miss.  He managed to clear out some space and then some.

1.9 - Farmar works some pick and roll with Bynum, then steps back and hits the three.  Jason Hart misses a half court heave.  Jazz 82, Lakers 81.  Still turning over the ball too often (4 this quarter) and the D's gotta pick it up some (Utah shot 13-22 from the field).  Some great play by Kobe on both ends of the floor (4-4 shooting, 1 steal and generally active hounding) is helping keep the team in it and set a tone.  Will the example be followed?  We shall see.  BK will monitor the fourth.

Fourth quarter:

Jordan Farma has given the Lakes a huge lift coming into the quarter, taking a nice little Bynum feed for a layup, and then going the length of the floor for the and one.  Very aggressive, but very controlled.  He's making defenses pay for giving him space. 

10:10- Great move by Drew going left on the dribble, then fighting through traffic for the lay in.  Very quick on his feet.

8:43- The pace and intensity have both picked up in this quarter.  The Jazz have gone away from that high screen almost entirely, while the Lakers (led by Kobe) have really picked up the defensive intensity.  To their credit, the Lakers aren't settling for jump shots on the offensive end, either. They're pushing to the hoop, whether through entries to the bigs or drives from the littles.

7:32- It's officially Farmar's night.  Picking up a loose ball off a broken play, Farmar turned and heaved, thinking there wasn't any time left on the shot clock.  Actually he had five ticks, but it didn't matter because the shot went in anyway.  Bad break on the other end for the Lakers, as a tipped pass heads right to Kirilenko, who hits a jumper right at the end of the shot clock. Good D, but nothing to show for it. 

Foul trouble starting to become an issue.  Walton, Bynum, Turiaf, and now Kobe all on the floor with four.

5:56- Great sequence!  Farmar gets blocked on the perimeter, but follows his shot and gets the ball before it goes out of bounds.  Walton then gets stripped, and Kirilenko drives down the other way, where he's just flat denied at the hoop by Kobe.  Clean block. The ball heads out to Williams, who misses a three and Bynum skies to grab the board.

Very slowly, the Lakers have taken some control in this one.  98-91 LAL.

5:41- Two man game with Kobe and Drew.  Passes back and forth, posting, reposting, until Bynum has the space and takes the Kobe pass moving to the hoop to draw the foul. 

Overall, this has been a very solid quarter on both ends.  Stick it out for another five and a half, and everyone goes home a winner.

4:57- Another great play from the Lakers.  Kobe drives, dishes to a moving Walton, who immediatly hits Drew diving down the lane for the and one, drawing the fifth on Boozer.  Drew hits the freebie.  His awareness away from the ball is really improving fast.

1:30- The Lakers have dominated the fourth in about every way a team can.  Offensively, defensively, everywhere.  Williams hits a three, with a minute to go, but the Lakers are still safely up by 11.

.55: Drew fouls out, and leaves the game to a huge ovation.  Well deserved, too, as he put up 15/9 in only 19 minutes.  It's all over at this point except figuring out the final score.  But however it shakes out, the Lakers will be on the right end of it.

Game, set match.  Final score, Lakers 119, Jazz 109.  FYI, the Lakers have, in addition to the streamers that usually fall after a win, smaller, confetti-esque little cut up versions of those streamers.  It's a great effect, but I'd hate to be the guy who has to sweep all that stuff up.

Anyway, great game.  Lakers move to 2-1.  Quality two, too.

More on the game to come.

-- BK

This was a great effort.  No let down from Friday night, and a big confidence builder heading into Tuesday's game against undefeated New Orleans.  That should be a good one.