Utah Jazz: Is team prepared for Lakers?

LOS ANGELES — The Jazz step into NBA Western Conference semifinal series play today against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, ready or not.

And there is ample reason to suspect they may not be.

When the Jazz and Lakers square off this afternoon, it will have been just 38 hours or so since Utah polished off Houston in Game 6 of its first-round playoff series with the Rockets.

That left little time to pack, let alone prep — especially considering just how dangerous the Jazz consider the West's No. 1-seeded Lakers to be.

"They're expected to win it all," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said of the Lakers on Saturday, when his club used what would otherwise be a practice day to replace a morning shootaround that is lost because of this afternoon's early start.

"It creates a number of problems for us, obviously, but you just have to go play," Sloan said. "That's the way the rules are."

So the Lakers have gotten to enjoy most of a week off.

ABC gets its marquee matchup of Bryant against anyone.

And the Jazz dutifully accept their fate.

"It's just how it is," point guard Deron Williams said. "You know, we have no control when we play, so we've just got to get ready for the game. Hopefully the layoff hurts them."

The higher likelihood, however, is that the Jazz may pay some sort of price.

The Lakers took three of four games from Utah this season, and in none of those did they have big man Paul Gasol — an in-season addition via trade from Memphis that has made L.A. a significantly more-threatening entity.

"He's made a huge difference for their team," Jazz All-Star forward Carlos Boozer said.

"They've had some pretty good gifts," Sloan said of the Gasol acquisition, which cost the Lakers relatively little. "You look around the league, and not too many teams get a chance to pick a guy up like that who's an All-Star performer."

Add in the fact that he's picked up the Lakers' triangle offense without a hitch, and offered a viable scoring alternative to Bryant, and the Jazz know they will have their hands full.