L.A. Lakers Lose to Utah, No. 1 Playoff Seed Unlikely

Lakers: That was painful. Losing to the Jazz by one point off a turnover at the buzzer? Ugh.

But before we get to that, let’s take a look back at what has transpired since that chippy game against Dallas last Thursday.

Speaking of the Jazz, the Lakers let the Jazz hang around last Friday, until the second half when they decided enough was enough. 

Final? 96-85 Lakers.

The Jazz played tough for the first half and I'm not being patronizing when I say that; they really gave it their all. But in the end, the Lakers just wore them down with a combination of superior talent, more healthy bodies and more clutch experience. 

The Jazz have lived through a season of upheaval. They have nothing to be ashamed of. They are very young and the future looks promising, but they just couldn't handle the Lakers on Friday.

On to Denver: The minute they took the floor for the Sunday matinee against the Nuggets, I knew the Lakers were going to lose that game. 

They were out of sorts, out of rhythm and sloppy from the get go. Phil Jackson remarked in the postgame press conference that he thought it was because it was an early start. 

I think he was just calling out his team. They all looked like they'd just polished off a big plate of huevos rancheros and then decided to play. 

Sluggish, ragged and out of focus, this reminded me a lot of the loss to the Heat. The other team was seriously motivated (in this case, Denver, it secured itself a playoff spot with the win) and the Lakers just couldn't ramp it up. 

Terrible shooting, but far worse were the 20 turnovers—20? Of course you're going to lose if that is your definition of ball security. 

Sigh. 

Was it just me or were there a ton of ill-advised passes into the post that the Nuggets easily deflected?

Also, t...

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