Utah Jazz: Cold when it counted — Jazz rally thwarted by missed shots down the stretch

LOS ANGELES — Deron Williams drove to the basket for a layup he's made thousands, maybe even millions, of times.

Rather than drop like they typically do, though, this one settled for a second or two onto that tiny shelf between rim and backboard.

It eventually rolled off, but only after Williams — hoping for a follow tip — had jumped and was on his way back down.

The Los Angeles Lakers' eight-point lead with a minute-and-a-half remaining at the time did not budge, and with that Kobe Bryant and Co. rolled to a 109-98 victory over the Jazz in Sunday's Game 1 of their NBA Western Conference semifinal playoff series.

"It summed up the night for us offensively," Williams said of the ball that wouldn't fall.

Though it actually came during an ABC-televised matinee at the sold-out Staples Center, the Jazz point guard was oh-so-right.

Playing just 38 hours or so after it bounced Houston from the first round of postseason play for a second straight year, Utah shot just 37.9 percent from the field (36-for-95) and 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from 3-point range.

Williams himself scored 14 but shot just 5-for-18, a reality not at all lost on the Jazz co-captain.

"The team feeds off me and my energy," he said. "Coach (Jerry Sloan) doesn't like me putting the blame on (me for) the loss, but it's probably my fault.

"I can play a lot better — offensively, defensively," Williams added. "So I'll take part of the blame for that."

No matter how much blame is assigned and/or accepted, however, the amount of responsibility a certain superstar had for the victory from the West's No. 1-seeded Lakers cannot be overstated.

NBA MVP-elect Kobe Bryant finished with a game-high 38 points, including 21-of-23 shooting from the foul line — the 21 makes marked a Lakers franchise playoff record — and 8-of-16 shooting from the field.

Bryant also got his teammates involved, dishing seven assists while big men Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom scored 18 and 16, respectively, and guard Sasha Vujacic added another 15 off the bench.

"He's definitely changed his game a little bit to do that,"

Jazz forward Matt Harpring said. "He's more of a passer now. I mean, he can still score — for sure. But he definitely looks for his teammates now, which makes them a better team."

The combination was killer Sunday for the Jazz, who also had a hand in their own demise with 13 turnovers — including seven by All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer.

So it ultimately didn't matter for Utah that Andrei Kirilenko blocked five shots and nabbed two steals, or that Boozer had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds, or that the Jazz had a 58-41 rebounding edge, or even that Mehmet Okur had a team-high 21 points and game-high 19 boards.