Utah Jazz: Lakers prove why they're the No. 1 seed

Saturday night at EnergySolutions Arena it was clear why one team won 65 games during the regular season and the other one won 48.

The Los Angeles Lakers, when playing well, are simply better than the Utah Jazz.

And on Saturday night the Lakers played very well.

"This is as good as we can play on the road," proclaimed veteran Lakers coach Phil Jackson after his team's 108-94 victory.

Los Angeles now leads the best-of-7, first-round playoff series against the Jazz 3-1. The Western Conference's top-seeded Lakers will have the chance to close it out Monday night at Staples Center.

"We're happy that we got this one, and we want to finish it off with the next one," said Jackson.

While Kobe Bryant, after an off-game on Thursday night in the Lakers' two-point loss, had a huge night on Saturday, he also had plenty of help from his teammates. Los Angeles, despite 13 first-quarter points by Bryant, trailed by five entering the second quarter.

But with the Lakers star on the bench getting some much-deserved rest early in the second period, Los Angeles reserves Luke Walton, Sasha Vujacic and Shannon Brown nailed back-to-back-to-back 3-point jump shots for a 9-0 run to give the Lakers a 36-34 lead.

Los Angeles never trailed again.

"We just went out and played hard and executed the game plan," said Brown, who led the Lakers' reserves with 10 points. "If we go out and execute, there are not too many teams who can play with us."

Walton and Vujacic each scored nine points off the bench.

"Everybody contributed tonight and we know that's what it's going to take to accomplish our ultimate goal," said Lakers point guard Derek Fisher.

The Lakers started Lamar Odom at power forward for the first time in the series, which moved Pau Gasol to center and put 21-year-old center Andrew Bynum on the bench.

Jackson said he made the move because the Jazz have been using smaller lineups and Bynum, who missed 32 straight games due to injury before coming back just prior to the playoffs, is still getting back into shape. The move seemed to pay off, as Odom finished with 10 points and a team-high 15 rebounds.

Of course, the biggest reason the Lakers were better on Saturday was the much-improved play of Bryant, who scored 38 points on 16-of-24 shooting from the field.