Winning on the road is proving to be the most troublesome task this postseason. The Boston Celtics can attest. Coming into the playoffs, the Celtics were pinned as a favorite for the championship. Fast-forward one month and the Celtics, who have yet to win a game on the road, are beginning to look like the underdog in Eastern Conference finals.

Taking a look at the Western Conference finals, the importance of the road is just as present. The Lakers and the Spurs both closed out their semi-final series' on the road. The route for the Lakers may have been a tad easier with it being in game six, but facing the unruly crowd in Utah, the sentiment is the same as San Antonio's game seven win in New Orleans.

There's no doubt that the majority of Lakers fans would have preferred to see New Orleans for the simple reason that they aren't the Spurs, but the schedule is set, and there's no question that it's going to be an all-out war. This series is a battle of the two most fit teams in West, and regardless of the turnout, it's going to be a fun one to watch. This is the series that brought us 0.4 seconds; one of the greatest shots in Lakers' history. Need I say more?

Their last postseason meeting was in 2004 where the Lakers knocked off the Spurs in six games, cruising to a 12 point lead at home one game after Derek Fisher's heroics in game five. The Spurs were the defending champs then, and they're the defending champs now. Will history repeat?

Foremost, I have some news on the Lakers injury beat:

1. The Lakers announced today that center Andrew Bynum will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee this week. The procedure is scheduled for Wednesday in New York and involves cleaning some rough spots and fraying on the underside of his kneecap. It will be performed by Dr. David Altchek. [LA Times]

2. As we know, Trevor Ariza was cleared for full contact last week. Rumors swirled that he was going to suit up for game six in Utah, but that didn't end up happening. He had full involvement in practice yesterday, and according to KLAC AM 570's David Vassegh, he finished off the scrimmage with a reverse dunk. He should be suited up for game one. I would expect either Ira Newble or Chris Mihm to be moved to the inactive list.

3. Kobe has said that his back is 100% with "no lingering effects from the back spasms that plagued him a week ago." [LA Times]

Time for the fun stuff:

The Season series between the Lakers and Spurs is tied 2-2 with both teams protecting their home floor. Since I've made the "post-Gasol acquisition era" a bit of a trend, I'll add that the post-Gasol acquisition era Lakers have faced the Spurs once. You might remember that 21 point win near the end of the season where Kobe dropped 20, Lamar dropped 17 and 14, and Pau dropped 14 and 11.

In the regular season, the Lakers scored 108.6 points per game and allowed 101.3 points per game with an offensive rating at 3rd of 30 and a defensive rating at 5th of 30. The Spurs scored 95.4 points per game and allowed 90.6 points per game with an offensive rating at 15st of 30 and a defensive rating at 13th of 30.

Series Schedule:
Game One
Wednesday - 5/21
Spurs @ Lakers
6:00pm - TNT
Marv Albert and Doug Collins

Game Two
Friday - 5/23
Spurs @ Lakers
6:00pm - TNT
Marv Albert and Doug Collins

Game Three
Sunday - 5/25
Lakers @ Spurs
5:30pm - TNT
Marv Albert and Doug Collins

Game Four
Tuesday - 5/27
Lakers @ Spurs
6:00pm - TNT
Marv Albert and Doug Collins

*Game Five
Thursday - 5/29
Spurs @ Lakers
6:00pm - TNT
Marv Albert and Doug Collins

*Game Six
Saturday - 5/31
Lakers @ Spurs
6:00 - TNT
Marv Albert and Doug Collins

*Game Seven
Monday - 6/2
Spurs @ Lakers
6:00pm - TNT
Marv Albert and Doug Collins

Starting Matchups: (Playoff Averages)
Point Guard
(LAL) Derek Fisher - 6-1, 205 - 11.9 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.7 APG
(SAS) Tony Parker - 6-2, 180 - 23.6 PPG. 3.5 RPG, 6.2 APG

Shooting Guard
(LAL) Kobe Bryant - 6-6, 220 - 33.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 6.8 APG
(SAS) Michael Finley - 6-7, 225 - 7 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.1 APG

Small Forward
(LAL) Vladimir Radmanovic - 6-10, 234 - 8.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.7 APG
(SAS) Bruce Bowen - 6-7, 200 - 5.6 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.5 APG

Power Forward
(LAL) Lamar Odom - 6-10, 230 - 15.6 PPG, 10.67RPG, 3.1 APG
(SAS) Tim Duncan - 6-11, 260 - 19.3 PPG, 13.3 RPG, 2.6 APG

Center
(LAL) Pau Gasol - 7-0, 260 - 20 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 4.5 APG
(SAS) Fabricio Oberto - 6-10, 245 - 3.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.3 APG

All-Time Series Facts - regular season (from game notes):


Lakers vs. San Antonio in Postseason (from game notes):
The Lakers and Spurs have met 10 times in the postseason (1982, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004) with Los Angeles advancing on seven occasions, most recently 4-2 in the 2004 Western Conference Semifinals after falling behind in that series 0-2. The teams have twice met in the First Round (2-0), five times in the Conference Semifinals (2-3) and three times in the Conference Finals (1982,1983 and 2001,3-0). The Lakers 47 playoff games against the Spurs are the fourth highest total against a single team in the postseason for Los Angeles, trailing only Boston (57), Phoenix (51) and Portland (48). The Lakers are 17-8 against the Spurs at home, 13-9 when visiting San Antonio and 30-17 overall against the Spurs in the postseason.

Staples Center Advantage (from game notes):
Since moving to STAPLES Center prior to the 1999-2000 season, the Lakers have won 82% of their postseason games (48-10). The Lakers have topped the century mark in half of their postseason home games at STAPLES Center (31-of-58) while the opposition has been held under 100 points in all but 16 of those games. In their last 21 home playoff games, the Lakers are 18-3.

Additional Reading:
Playoff Central [Lakers.com]
LA Times Lakers Blog [LA Times Lakers Blog] - Inside info, audio and updates
Game Notes (PDF) [Lakers.com]

Kobe's back injury in game four opened the door for ton of speculation. The fact the ABC7 reported that Kobe "couldn't stand up on the plane" didn't help much.

Throughout his career, Kobe has been known to suck it up--and he'll do just that on Wednesday:

Kobe Bryant met the media Monday with a new companion - an electronic stimulating device hooked up to his sore lower back.

Plans call for the two to spend a lot of time together for the next couple of days, or longer.

The Los Angeles Lakers' star tweaked his back in the opening minutes of Sunday's 123-115 overtime loss at Utah that tied the Western Conference semifinals 2-2.

"It's pretty sore right now," Bryant said Monday. "It's tight. It's to be expected the next day, I guess. I don't know how I made it through the game, to be honest with you."

Bryant said he was receiving treatment around the clock.

"Secret stuff," he replied with a smile when asked to be specific about the treatment.

Regarding the electronic stimulating device, Bryant said he had slept with it on Sunday night.

"It cuts down the pain," he said. "How, I don't know."...

"I'll be ready to play. I can't imagine it being any worse than it was last night." [Fox Sports]

I'm sure Vic The Brick will be equipped with some cool words for Kobe before the game.

Moving onto things of lesser importance (though they sure could use some defense right now), Trevor Ariza has been cleared by a second physician:

Hoopsworld has learned that Trevor Ariza of the Los Angeles Lakers has been cleared by a second independent doctor. Sidelined for months with a broken foot, Ariza has now sought out two additional opinions hoping to get back on the floor to help the team in its ongoing playoff run.

The Lakers' physician has been conservative as Ariza's CT Scan still shows a line on the bone which is normally interpreted as an unhealed fracture.

Ariza recently saw a doctor in Utah who postulated that the bone has indeed healed and that the line may never fully disappear.

The recent third opinion concurred which sends the ultimate decision to the Lakers who are inherently conservative when it comes to long term health of their players. To date they haven't been willing to put Ariza in harm's way, even for the ongoing playoff push. [Hoopsworld]

That's the scoop for now. Game five is on Wednesday. I'd call it a must-win. The Lakers definitely DO NOT want to face elimination at EnergySolutions in game six, so I'm calling Wednesday the game of the series.

I lied.

Last friday, I posted the news that Andrew Bynum most likely wouldn't be coming back this season. I titled that post "This just might be the last Andrew Bynum post of the playoffs." I was wrong.

Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum might undergo exploratory arthroscopic surgery on his injured left knee if there is no significant improvement in the next three to four weeks.

Lakers spokesman John Black said Bynum was examined Wednesday by Dr. Steven Gecha in Princeton, N.J. Black said the team was told there had been some improvement in the 20-year-old center's knee, but Gecha's recommendation was exploratory surgery if there wasn't more in the upcoming weeks. [ESPN]

Sure, it's an unfortunate situation... but it's for the better. That's already been discussed here.

Regardless of the news, I'm still hearing "Just wait until they get Andrew back. They're going to sweep through the playoffs." Well, as of now, they are sweeping through the playoffs, and looking rather good doing so.

Some good news on the defensive front: Trevor Ariza was cleared to play on April, 27. "A week from now, I can start doing a little bit of contact. And then a week later I can start playing." Theoretically, this means that Trevor should be good to go as soon as Sunday's game four, however reports earlier this week were hinting towards something sooner.

And, just a reminder:
(Lakers up 2-0)

Game Three
Friday - 5/9
Lakers @ Jazz
6:00pm - ESPN/KCAL

Game Four
Sunday - 5/11
Lakers @ Jazz
12:30pm - ABC

*Game Five
Wednesday - 5/14
Jazz @ Lakers
TBD - TNT

*Game Six
Friday - 5/16
Lakers @ Jazz
TBD - ESPN/KCAL

*Game Seven
Monday - 5/19
Jazz @ Lakers
TBD - TNT

A couple of reasons for Lakers fans to breath a little bit easier going into EnergySolutions Arena where the Jazz had a 37-4 record: In their last meeting in Utah, the Lakers snapped a 19-game home winning streak with a 106-95 victory, anchored by Kobe's 27, and Lamar's 21 and 12. The Lakers are 3-1 in the season series. All four games were played without Pau Gasol in the lineup. Also, if the first round means anything, despite winning games one and two in Houston, the Jazz lost game three at home by two.

28.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 5.4 APG, and 57 wins later, Kobe Bryant is your 2008 NBA MVP.

2008 MVP Voting (based on the NBA's MVP voting points system):

1. Kobe Bryant - 1,105 (82 first place votes)
2. Chris Paul - 889 (28 first place votes)
3. Kevin Garnett - 670
4. LeBron James - 439
5. Dwight Howard - 60

Longest-Tenured Winners*

• Kobe Bryant - won following his 12th season
• Karl Malone - 12th season
• Hakeem Olajuwon - 10th season
• Charles Barkley - 9th season
• Kevin Garnett - 9th season
• Steve Nash - 9th season
• Dirk Nowitzki - 9th season
• Magic Johnson - 8th season
• Shaquille O'Neal - 8th season
• Bob Cousy - 7th season

*First MVP Award

The press conference was terrific. Here are some notable quotes:

"Since you said that you couldn't have won this award without your teammates, are you going to be getting your teammates any sort of gifts?" - Luke Walton

"How do you like the triangle?" - Tex Winter

And this one from Bill Plaschke: "Kobe, would you like to be a Laker for the rest of your career? Can you say that now?" "I would like to. Absolutely."

Here's the full audio of the acceptance speech as well as the press conference, courtesy of myself.

Thanks to Utah's 113-91 win over Houston last night, we don't have to wait until Tuesday to see the Lakers take the floor. This is a good thing. I don't know how much longer I could take the "rest vs. rust" discussions. Anyway, the Lakers cruised through the first round, but that might be the problem. I'm not a big fan of speculation, but it's hard not to listen when someone says something along the lines of "well, the Lakers are going to get overconfident after the sweep, Denver just rolled over and gave them the series." Personally, I think the Lakers know what their doing. This whole notion of 'overconfidence' is milked too much in the media. It's playoff basketball. The Lakers (as with just about any other team) have enough experience to know what their going up against and how to react.

Sunday is going to make for some terrific basketball. Not only do we have the Lakers kicking off this series, but the #1 seed Celtics face elimination in game seven of that CRAZY series at 10am.

Oh yeah. Kobe is your new MVP.

Okay, time for the fun stuff:

The Lakers are 3-1 in the season series, losing on November 30th at EnergySolutions Arena. On March 20th the Lakers issued Utah one of only four losses at EnergySolutions Arena. Interestingly enough, all three Lakers' wins against Utah were without Pau Gasol--just like the Denver series.

In the regular season, the Lakers scored 108.6 points per game and allowed 101.3 points per game with an offensive rating at 3rd of 30 and a defensive rating at 5th of 30. The Jazz scored 106.4 points per game and allowed 99.3 points per game with an offensive rating at 1st of 30 and a defensive rating at 12th of 30.

Series Schedule:
Game One
Sunday - 5/4
Jazz @ Lakers
12:30pm - ABC

Game Two
Wednesday - 5/7
Jazz @ Lakers
7:30pm - TNT

Game Three
Friday - 5/9
Lakers @ Jazz
6:00pm - ESPN/KCAL

Game Four
Sunday - 5/11
Lakers @ Jazz
12:30pm - ABC

*Game Five
Wednesday - 5/14
Jazz @ Lakers
TBD - TNT

*Game Six
Friday - 5/16
Lakers @ Jazz
TBD - ESPN/KCAL

*Game Seven
Monday - 5/19
Jazz @ Lakers
TBD - TNT

Starting Matchups:
Point Guard
(LAL) Derek Fisher - 6-1, 205 - 11.7 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 2.9 APG (8.5 PPG in Round 1)
(UTA) Deron Williams - 6-3, 208 - 18.8 PPG. 3.0 RPG, 10.5 APG (20.8 PPG in Round 1)

Shooting Guard
(LAL) Kobe Bryant - 6-6, 220 - 28.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 5.4 APG (33.1 PPG in Round 1)
(UTA) Ronnie Brewer - 6-7, 223 - 12 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.8 APG (9.3 PPG in Round 1)

Small Forward
(LAL) Vladimir Radmanovic - 6-10, 234 - 8.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.9 APG (8.2 PPG in Round 1)
(UTA) Andrei Kirilenko - 6-9, 223 - 11 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 4.0 APG (9.3 PPG in Round 1)

Power Forward
(LAL) Lamar Odom - 6-10, 230 - 14.2 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 3.5 APG (11.7 PPG in Round 1)
(UTA) Carlos Boozer - 6-9, 266 - 21.1 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 2.9 APG (16 PPG in Round 1)

Center
(LAL) Pau Gasol - 7-0, 260 - 18.9 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 3.2 APG, 0.5 SPG (22.2 PPG in Round 1)
(UTA) Mehmet Okur - 6-11, 263 - 14.5 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 2.0 APG (13.1 PPG in Round 1)

All-Time Series Facts (from game notes):


Lakers vs. Utah in Postseason (from game notes):
The Lakers and Jazz have met three times in the postseason (1988, 1997 and 1998) with Los Angeles advancing on once occasion (1988 Western Conference Semifinals 4-3, the lone time the Lakers have held the home-court advantage over the Jazz). Utah eliminated Los Angeles from the playoffs in two consecutive seasons: 1997 Western Conference Semifinals (1-4) and 1998 Western Conference Finals (0-4). The Jazz sweep of the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals in 1998 included a 112-77 victory in Game 1, the largest margin of defeat by the Jazz over the Lakers in their playoff series history.

Staples Center Advantage (from game notes):
Since moving to STAPLES Center prior to the 1999-2000 season, the Lakers have won 82% of their postseason games (45-10). The Lakers have topped the century mark in half of their postseason home games at STAPLES Center (28-of-55) while the opposition has been held under 100 points in all but 14 of those games. In their last 18 home playoff games, the Lakers are 15-3.

Additional Reading:
Playoff Central [Lakers.com]
LA Times Lakers Blog [LA Times Lakers Blog] - Inside info, audio and updates
Game Notes (PDF) [Lakers.com]