1 Series Down, 12 More Wins To Go

To nobody's surprise, the Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the second round of the NBA Playoffs after they defeated the Utah Jazz 107-96 in Game 5 last night in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, and Lamar Odom added 26 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who will now have several days off before facing the winner of the Houston-Portland series. 

There was never any doubt in my mind that the Lakers were going to win this series, although I can say the way the Lakers played in this series was not close to championship caliber basketball. Yeah the Lakers scored more than 100 points in each game, yeah they shot 50% from the field in the series, but this team did not play to their full potential. Utah outrebounded the Lakers by more than six per game, and the Laker bench was incapable of holding a lead throughout most of the series. In Game 5, the Lakers were up by 22 points in the fourth quarter, yet the starters had to come back on the floor once the lead shrank to six. Let's not forget Andrew Bynum was a virtual non-factor in this series. Bynum averaged a whopping five points in the series, and managed to lose his starting job to Lamar Odom in the process. The matchups were probably a reason why Bynum did not start, but come on, Bynum is supposed to be the man that makes the Lakers unbeatable in the playoffs, he should be able to put up more than five points a game. The fact is he will definitely get more playing time whether the Lakers play Portland or Houston in the next round as Pau Gasol is too soft to guard either Yao Ming or Joel Pryzbilla/Greg Oden. 

I was very impressed with Lamar Odom in this series. He definitely made the most of his time in the starting lineup, as he averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds in the series. This just did not seem like a playoff series for me, I don't know maybe it had something to do with Laker fans treating it like regular season games. I can't say I really blame them, I mean at this point does anyone really think the Lakers won't make the NBA Finals? That's the time when the fans will start being loud and standing up during the game (Or maybe not since most of the fans will probably be celebrities). 

Nonetheless the Lakers are moving on, four wins down, 12 to go until the championship. The Lakers will have to wait to see whether they will be playing the Houston Rockets, who the Lakers beat all three times in the regular season, or if they will be playing the Portland Trail Blazers, who the Lakers split a four-game series with in the regular season. All signs point to the Lakers facing the Rockets, as Houston has a 3-1 series lead against Portland. Only eight teams in NBA history have come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win. I can't say I really have a preference, the Lakers will win regardless of who they play, but if I had to pick I'd say I hope they play the Rockets since I hate Ron Artest and would love to see Kobe Bryant make him look like a fool much like he did in the regular season. 

The Dodgers lost to the San Francisco Giants 5-4 last night. In attendance was Barry "The Roidhead" Bonds. The man is treated like a God in San Fran. I can only wish that some day Giant fans will take their ignorant heads out of their butts and realize Bonds is the biggest cheater to have ever played baseball. If they honestly believe Bonds has never taken steroids in his life, then they have to be about as dumb and helpless as someone who decides to root for the Los Angeles Clippers. 

I was not able to watch 24 last night. There was too much on TV, and I have to admit that I turned from the Laker game at 9:00 so I could watch WWE Monday Night Raw (The Lakers were up by 22 at the time, cut me some slack). I have to keep up with the WWE as it's possible I may be doing a wrestling show on the ASU student radio station next year. I'm still upset I won't be able to go to Summer Slam, which is at Staples Center this August. I'll be starting my sophomore year the day after, so I guess that's a legitimate reason not to go.

Today was the beginning of what should be a very stressful final two weeks of school. I finished the rough draft of my paper on the use of steroids in professional sports (Hey I knew that Barry Bonds cheating would help me sometime!) Finals start a week from today. Tomorrow's forecast in Phoenix: Sunny with a high of 89.