Last night was a strange, ugly game. Turnovers were abundant, there were very few second chance points and no one rebounded a whole lot except Andrew Bynum. The Lakers seemed to come out with at least some energy, so I don’t think it was a lack of effort- it was sloppiness and poor execution that doomed them down to the very last play.
One of the only people I was impressed with last night was the aforementioned Andrew Bynum. He grabbed a career 
I was also pretty happy with Ron Artest’s performance. From the opening tip he was aggressive and set up Pau Gasol for the Lakers’ first two points. He brought a lot of energy and tenacity to the floor, and finished with 9 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals.
It was his hustle plays that I was most proud of; there was a sequence in the 3rd quarter where he poked the ball away and chased it to the other end of the court where the Jazz recovered it. Instead of giving up, however, he trailed the play and poked the ball free once more that resulted in a Fisher-assisted Kobe jam. His defense was on point last night, and it showed.
Next: A Muddle of a Game
Other than those two, and Pau early on, the Lakers never got it together, all night. I’m not sure if they assumed Utah would be an easy target because of their copious injury issues or if there was something else afoot. The Lakers started out well- Pau was on fire, the defense was good and the team had 7 assists on their first 9 makes- but fell apart like I said.
It’s also pretty clear that unlike a lot of teams most of the problems the Lakers suffer from do not affect them long term (aside from injuries of course). Even with these last two losses, I doubt that they are actually in any sort of funk, like some are suggesting. I’m not worried in the slightest about their post-season chances or focus.
Honestly… I don’t want to get into the game much more than that, although I suppose I have to mention Kobe if I want to be thorough. He had a terrible shooting game for most of the night, but in true Mamba fashion came alive in the fourth quarter for 10 of his 20 points.
He chased down a loose ball and hit a three in front of the Lakers’ bench to bring them within two. At this point, I was getting really nervous but still felt like we had a chance as long as Kobe was in the game. He proved me momentarily right on the ensuing possession: Bryant came off a screen to bury a huge triple which gave the Lakers a one point lead with 15 seconds left….. and then it all went to hell.
Next: Don’t (Fully) Blame the Dark Knight
I am not trying to make Lakers Nation relive the victory snatched from our grasp for malicious reasons. I was crushed last night too. I literally could not believe the last sequence- it was fitting in the context of the game but highly uncharacteristic otherwise. The reason I think this loss upset me more than some others is because it was SO painful to lose in that fashion, to not even get a shot off after the game finally seemed within reach.
Ironically, I wasn’t that made at Kobe and don’t think anyone else should be either, no matter how the last sequence 
People can have notoriously short memories, a “what have you done for me lately” attitude. Kobe Bean Bryant has saved the Lakers too many times for me to feel like I have the right to be upset. He might not have been the Kobe we wanted at the very end of the game, but there you have it: it taught us to appreciate the basketball genius we are privy to 99% of the time.
It would be one thing if he had tried to take a bad shot after he playing poorly the whole game with everyone else on point, but the truth of the matter is the whole team played and shot poorly. He was hot at the time and honestly who else would you rather have the ball in that situation but Kobe? If you think he doesn’t feel the worst about his end-of-game gaffe, then you don’t know the Mamba. I’ll still take him every time.