Despite a Goran Dragic-type effort from Kyle Korver (9-of-10 from the field, 5-for-5 from 3PT, 23 points), the Lakers were able to edge the Jazz, 110-109, and take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.

The Lakers got 35-4-7 from Kobe, but it was Ron Artest (20 points, including a surprising 4-of-7 from 3PT) and Derek Fisher (20 points) that kept the Lakers in the game for much of the second half.

This game featured a great stretch of shooting late in the fourth quarter. Check out this series of shots:

2:25 Lamar Odom makes 24-foot three point jumper (Lakers lead, 101-100)
2:10 Paul Millsap makes layup (Jazz lead, 102-101)
1:43 Kobe Bryant makes 18-foot two point shot (Lakers lead, 103-102)
1:23 Kyle Korver makes 24-foot three point jumper (Jazz lead, 105-103)
0:54 Kobe Bryant makes 24-foot three point jumper (tied at 106)
0:42 Deron Williams makes 18-foot jumper (Jazz lead, 108-106)
0:28 Derek Fisher makes 24-foot three point jumper (Lakers lead, 109-108)

If you’re counting, that’s six made jumpshots from 18+ feet to tie or take the lead in less than two minutes. That is some seriously good shooting.

Unfortunately for the Jazz, that’s where it ended as both Wesley Matthews and Deron Williams missed jumpers that would have given Utah the lead with less than 0:10 to play.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Per ESPN…

Late Thursday night, Artest’s account posted a string of tweets expressing frustration with Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

The first unedited tweet, posted around 9 p.m. PT, read: “Finally Phil Jackson didn’t mention me in media before talking me Now I can build on game 2. Hopefully he talks to me before the media.”

The next unedited tweet, posted approximately an hour later, read: “Ever since phil mention things about me in media before coming to me first I was weird . So every pray he can somehow close his yapper.”

Artest’s brother claimed that the account was hacked, but when a reporter paraphrased the tweets and asked Artest about it, he said:

“No, no, you have to read it exactly. That’s exactly what I said? If you can’t get it exact, then I can’t answer it.”

“I’m here to talk about basketball, basketball, all basketball,” Artest said. “Twitter is for my fans, not for [media].”

For his part, Jackson says that he spoke directly to Artest about the issue at hand — his terrible three-point shooting.

“So, you know, we expect him to break out of it at some point, but he’s got to be discriminative in what’s a good shot and what isn’t.”

Jackson, who described Artest as a “naïve, innocent lamb” during the first-round series against Oklahoma City said, “I guess he might be a little sensitive,” on Friday.

“I usually tell the truth,” Jackson said of his thought process behind commenting about his players to the media. “I usually don’t pull punches, so, I mean, a person has to withstand that. If they’re hearing it on TV in front of a massive audience, they must understand that their coach saying it to them will be probably a little bit more harmful, a little more hurtful perhaps. They have to be tough enough to take that and move on.”

Jackson tweaks, he doesn’t tweet. He relishes needling everyone — players, coaches, officials — through the media, though I doubt he’s ever run into someone like Ron Artest. The Zen Master should tread carefully.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

It has to be even more fun when it’s the guy who ordered the Code Red in “A Few Good Men.”

The Lakers led by eight heading into the fourth quarter, but with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer out of the game, the Utah reserves took advantage of the Lakers’ bench, going on an 8-1 run to start the period. After Kobe and Gasol returned, the Jazz managed to build a four-point lead with four minutes to play, but the Lakers went on a 15-6 run (featuring 11 of Kobe’s 31 points) to put the game away.

These two teams actually remind me of the Bucks/Hawks first round matchup. Like the Hawks, the Lakers are more talented, yet they tend to lose focus during (sometimes long) stretches of the game. The Jazz are a more talented version of the Bucks — a team that is going to play its heart out from start to finish. What this means is that the Jazz are probably going to have a chance to steal a game or two in L.A. They almost stole Game 1, but five straight missed shots with under four minutes to play did the Jazz in.

Like Jeff Van Gundy said, when it gets into crunch time, the Jazz need to double off of Ron Artest and force Kobe to give the ball up. If Utah can put the ball in Artest’s hands, they’ll have a better chance to win. This may go against Jerry Sloan’s straight man-to-man philosophy, but I’d rather see an uncomfortable Artest launching long jumpers than let Kobe go one-on-one with Wes Matthews.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

At least three games have been played in each playoff series, so it’s a good time to update the power rankings (where I list each team and their relative chances of advancing to the next round and/or the Finals.)

Click here for the first edition of these rankings.

R.I.P.

16. Pistons
Detroit was unceremoniously swept by the surging Cavs, who won by an average of 15.5 points. This series was never in doubt, and went just like everyone (but the Detroit faithful/demented) thought it would after the Allen Iverson trade blew up in Joe Dumars’ face. Assuming they let AI and Rasheed Wallace walk, the Pistons will have a ton of cap space to work with this summer (or next, if they choose to wait). The core looks to be Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey and Rip Hamilton. Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson appear to be ready to play heavier minutes, but the Pistons still need to add a free agent big man over the next two summers. Carlos Boozer will be this year’s free agent prize, at least as far as bigs go, while Anderson Varejao, Brandon Bass and Drew Gooden are cheaper options. It’s going to be interesting to see how Dumars reshapes this roster — he gave up any chance at a deep playoff run by trading Chauncey Billups away.

DEAD MAN WALKING

15. Jazz
Down 3-1 with two games remaining in L.A., the Jazz are in serious trouble. They desperately needed Game 4 to have a chance and without it, they…um…don’t have (much of) a chance. Utah faces a tumultuous offseason, though they can rest easy that they have one of the few franchise players in the league in Deron Williams. Carlos Boozer plans to test free agency, so the team will need to decide if he’s worth a long-term commitment or if they should turn the reins over to Paul Millsap, who was actually more productive on a per-minute basis. (For the record, if Boozer wants more than $12 million a year, and he probably will, I’d let him walk.)

ON THE ROPES

14. Blazers
13. Spurs
Both teams are down 3-1, but have the luxury of two home games over the next three, so they just need a Game 5 win to put the pressure back on the opposition. Given their incredible playoff experience, San Antonio would seem to have the better chance of pulling out a series win, but neither team is in a good position right now. Tony Parker has been phenomenal, but he and Tim Duncan aren’t getting much help from their supporting cast, while the Blazers are having trouble matching Houston’s mental and physical toughness. It would be a shame if the Rockets go on to fall to the Lakers in the next round because Portland gave L.A. fits in the regular season, and it would be a fun matchup to watch.

STILL ALIVE

12. Hawks
11. Hornets
10. Sixers
9. Bulls
After looking great in Game 1, Atlanta laid an egg in Games 2 and 3, and are now facing an (almost) “must-win” Game 4. The problem is simple: The Hawks are simply not defending the three point line. Miami has made 27 of 49 (55%) treys in the last two games. The Hornets bounced back in Game 3 and got a much-needed win. They face similarly desperate circumstances in Game 4, but I’m not overly optimistic given how the team has failed to click all year long. The Sixers and Bulls head on the road with the series tied. Both teams have shown the ability to win on the road, but they’re still at a disadvantage. I give the Bulls the better chance of springing the upset, but who knows…

LOOKING GOOD

8. Heat
7. Celtics
6. Mavs
Miami shellacked Atlanta the last two games and can put a ton of pressure on the Hawks with a win in Game 4. The Celtics head back to Boston with the series tied, and while they’re nowhere near comfortable, at least they got one win in Chicago. The Mavs have the Spurs on the ropes, but if there’s a team that has the mental toughness to pull out a series win from the jaws of defeat, it’s the Spurs.

ROAD BLOCKS (FOR THE LAKERS & CAVS)

5. Magic
4. Nuggets
3. Rockets
The Magic regained control of the series (and showed great mental fortitude) with a Game 4 win in Philly after a tough, tough loss in Game 3. Hedo Turkoglu has been struggling, but he hit a MONSTER three in the waning seconds to give Orlando the win. The Rockets are making the Blazers look like a bunch of boys out there. They’re playing physical and getting up in Portland’s collective grill. The only worry for Houston is the fact that they only have one more home game in the series. The Nuggets had a golden opportunity to put a nail in the Hornets’ coffin in Game 3, but Carmelo Anthony missed the game-winning bucket with 0:04 to play. It’s unclear how the Hornets’ near-meltdown will affect the rest of the series. (New Orleans was up by eight with 1:33 to play and nearly lost the game.)

DESTINED FOR THE FINALS

2. Cavs
1. Lakers
The Cavs were the first team to get out of the first round. They looked strong and focused against the Pistons. The Lakers are facing a much better team in the Jazz. If Utah were in the East, they’d probably be the second- or third-best team in the conference, so that’s why I still have them ahead of the Cavs. (That, plus the Lakers’ fine play in two meetings with LeBron and Co. this season.) The Lakers need to close out the Jazz on Monday night, as they are likely to get a tough test from the Rockets in the semis and could use the rest.

Be sure to check out Boozer’s dunk on Pau Gasol at about the 2:00 mark.

Sick.

In other series, the Mavs blew out the Spurs and the Celtics beat the Bulls by 21 in Chicago.

There were three games last night and the best one was on NBA TV, so nobody saw it. The Cavs beat the Pistons (Cavs lead, 2-0), the Lakers beat the Jazz (Lakers lead, 2-0) and the Blazers nipped the Rockets (series tied, 1-1). Here are a few random observations about Tuesday’s action:

- It’s a bad idea by the NBA to schedule both 1/8 matchups on the same night. Moreover, TNT aired both games while the best action (Blazers/Rockets) was relegated to NBA TV. The Jazz made a game of it against the Lakers, but could never quite get over the hump. Deron Williams was outstanding (35 points, nine assists, four rebounds, four steals, two blocks), nailing six threes but turning the ball over seven times. Six Utah players scored in double figures, but when you allow the Lakers to shoot 60% from the field, you’re going to have a tough time winning. (Sorry, I just channeled Hubie Brown’s third-person shtick there for a minute.)

- Where in the world is Jordan Farmar? He played just four minutes last night, and has seen his playing time decline from 20.5 minutes per game in November to 16.1 minutes in April. Year to year, his PER has fallen off a cliff — 15.29 last season vs. 9.93 this season — and he’s being outplayed by Shannon Brown. Farmar is battling some tendinitis, but he’s looking less and less like a future starter and more and more like a career backup.

- Speaking of Brown, he has played at least 14 minutes in each of the last six games, averaging 8.0 points, 2.2 assists and 2.3 rebounds over that span. Brown is really athletic, plays pretty good defense and has an improving offensive game. Interestingly, he was originally drafted by the Cavs, so if he continues to play well, it might come back to bite Danny Ferry in the bum. Mitch Kupchak acquired Brown as part of the Vladimir Radmanovic/Adam Morrison trade a few months ago.

- After dropping Game 1, Portland was in “must-win” mode and they got a much needed victory to tie the series. Brandon Roy came up big (42 points, 7 rebounds) and LaMarcus Aldridge posted a nice game (27 points, 12 boards) after scoring just seven points in Game 1.

- The Rockets will be without Dikembe Mutombo for the remainder of the playoffs (probably forever, actually) after he suffered a knee injury.

- Greg Oden had a nice follow up dunk, but he’s a fouling machine. He had six fouls in 12 minutes. Wowsers.

- The trade that sent Rafer Alston to the Magic hasn’t hurt the Rockets at all. They also acquired Kyle Lowry from the Grizzlies and he and Aaron Brooks are providing good play at the point. The two combined for 33 points, six assist and five boards on Tuesday night.

- The Pistons cut the Cavs’ lead to eight with about four minutes to play, but a Cleveland 9-2 run put the game away. I get confused when I look at the box score and see the Pistons’ best perimeter defender — Tayshaun Prince — only played 26 minutes and wasn’t in any foul trouble. Meanwhile, LeBron goes for 29/13/6 — do you think Prince should get a little more run?

- In other news, there are reports flying that Derrick Rose will win ROY and Jason Terry will win the Sixth Man award. No surprises there.