Utah Jazz: Dead in the water?

LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant took his trophy, grabbed a microphone and for all practical purposes declared the Jazz dead.

"We're going to play until June," the NBA's newest MVP told a Staples Center crowd of 18,997 — and a bench full of Utah players waiting while Bryant accepted the award from commissioner David Stern.

"I love you guys," he added before the start of Game 2 in the Jazz-Los Angeles Lakers Western Conference playoff semifinal series. "Let's get this party started."

By the time the celebration was complete late Wednesday night, and Bryant's Lakers had finished beating the Jazz 120-110 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, L.A. indeed was halfway done with Utah and well down to the road to its first Western Conference finals since 2004.

The Jazz?

They were left wondering what in the world it will take, when the series resumes with Game 3 on Friday night at EnergySolutions Arena, to overcome Bryant and the club he carries.

Because they know play like that displayed Wednesday just won't cut it.

Certainly not 10-point scoring from power forward Carlos Boozer, who has failed to reach the 20-point plateau since Game 1 of Utah's first-round playoff series with Houston.

Definitely not a quarter like Wednesday's first, when the Jazz committed seven turnovers and both Boozer and point guard Deron Williams went scoreless (on a combined 0-for-5 from the field).

And absolutely, unequivocally, not while allowing Bryant to score 34 — on top of his 38 in Game 1 — while four other Lakers reach double figures.

Williams did rebound in the second half to finish with a 25-point, 10-assist double-double — including 11 scored during the third quarter.

But that by then much of the damage was done.

With Bryant scoring 10 in the first quarter and a couple more in the second, the Lakers — who led in the opening half by as many as 15 — took a 63-49 lead into the break.

Boozer, who got into early foul trouble, also was scoreless at halftime — on 0-for-3 shooting. Williams had just three points and was shooting just 1-for-6 after two quarters. And the Jazz's only double-digit scorer in the first half was backup power forward Paul Millsap, who took advantage of Boozer's limited playing time to score 13 in his first 17 minutes.

The Lakers, meanwhile, had four scorers in double figures at the half — Bryant, Pau Gasol (15), Lamar Odom (13) and Derek Fisher (12) — and shot 61.1 percent from the field in the first two quarters.

Fisher wound up 22, Gasol 20 and Odom 19, while Sasha Vujacic added another 12 points off the bench.