Schedule and 2008 Results
Regular Season Records: L.A. Lakers 57-25, Utah 54-28
Game 1 on Sunday, 04 May: Utah loses at L.A. Lakers, 109-pts-98
Game 2 on Wednesday, 07 May: Utah loses at L.A. Lakers, 120-pts-110
Game 3 on Friday, 09 May: L.A. Lakers lose at Utah, 104-pts-99
Game 4 on Sunday, 11 May: L.A. Lakers lose at Utah, 123-pts-115 (OT)
Game 5 on Wednesday 14 May: Utah loses at L.A. Lakers, 111-pts-104
Game 6 on Friday 16 May: L.A. Lakers win at Utah, 108-pts-105

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 6: Posting only the second road win to this point in the 2008 NBA Quarterfinals, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz 108-pts-105 to oust the Jazz 4-games-2 in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1048. Los Angeles led by 19 points at halftime - the largest halftime lead by a road team since series 982 Game 2, in which the Dallas Mavericks led the San Antonio Spurs 58-pts-38 at halftime en route to a 113-pts-91 victory in their 2006 NBA Quarterfinals series. With the series 1048 win, the Los Angeles Lakers improve their best-of-7 NBA playoff series record to 57-27 overall and 23-7 in the Quarterfinals; with the series 1048 loss, the Utah Jazz see their best-of-7 NBA playoff series record fall to 10-14 overall and 6-7 in the Quarterfinals. The win order for the victorious Los Angeles Lakers was WWLLWW: Series 1048 thus becomes the 12th NBA Quarterfinals series, the 24th NBA series (all rounds), and the 62nd MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow this win order to series completion. With all uncompleted 2008 NBA Quarterfinals series now through six games, home teams now have a 21-2 game record; those 21 home-court wins are an all-time best-of-7 NBA Quarterfinals high through six games, breaking the old mark of 18 home-court wins through all best-of-7 NBA Quarterfinals Game 6s set in 1977 and tied in 1984, 1986, and 2004. (A cumbersome record to describe, but noteworthy nevertheless.)

After Game 5: With MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1048 back in southern California for Game 5, the Los Angeles Lakers hosted and defeated the Utah Jazz 111-pts-104 to take a 3-games-2 series 1048 lead. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-2, the Los Angeles Lakers have a 24-4 series record and a 16-12 Game 6 record. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-2, the Utah Jazz have a 1-7 series record and a 3-5 Game 6 record, with their sole series victory occurring in the last such series for Utah (series 1012, over the Houston Rockets in the 2007 NBA Preliminary round). With the series 1048 Game 5 victory by Los Angeles in Los Angeles, home teams in the 2008 NBA Quarterfinals have posted a 19-1 record through the first five games of each of the four Quarterfinals series - the best such record ever by home teams in the NBA Quarterfinals, eclipsing the 17-3 home team mark in the 1986 NBA Quarterfinals.

After Game 4: The Utah Jazz defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 123-pts-115 at home in overtime to tie MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1048 at 2-games-all. When tied 2-games-all in a best-of-7 NBA playoff series, the Los Angeles Lakers have a series record of 16-7 and a Game 5 record of 17-6, while the Utah Jazz have a series record of 2-3 and a Game 5 record of 1-4. Series 1048 Game 4 was the first best-of-7 NBA Quarterfinals overtime game since series 1016 Game 2 (in 2007), when the Utah Jazz hosted and defeated the Golden State Warriors 127-pts-117 in one overtime.

After Game 3: With MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1048 in Salt Lake City for Games 3-4, the Utah Jazz hosted and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 104-pts-99 to cut the Los Angeles series lead to 2-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the Los Angeles Lakers have a series record of 31-5 and a Game 4 record of 25-11. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the Utah Jazz have a series record of 1-11 (with the sole series win in this context in series 1012, over the Houston Rockets in the 2007 NBA Preliminary round) and a Game 4 record of 3-9. The Los Angeles Lakers lost the last best-of-7 NBA playoff series in which they had led 2-games-1, to the Phoenix Suns in series 977 (in the 2006 NBA Preliminary round); the loss ended a 15-series Laker winning streak in the wake of a 2-games-1 lead.

After Game 2: The Los Angeles Lakers hosted and defeated the Utah Jazz 120-pts-110 to take a 2-games-nil lead in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1048. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-nil, the Los Angeles Lakers have a series record of 34-1 and a Game 3 record of 19-16. The sole Lakers series loss in this context occurred in series 215, at the hands of the Boston Celtics in the 1969 NBA Finals. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-nil, the Utah Jazz have a series record of 1-9 and a Game 3 record of 9-1. The sole Jazz series win in this context occurred in series 1012, over the Houston Rockets in the 2007 NBA Preliminary round.

After Game 1: The Los Angeles Lakers hosted and defeated the Utah Jazz 109-pts-98 to take a 1-game-nil lead in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1048. When leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the Los Angeles Lakers have a series record of 47-7 and a Game 2 record of 35-19. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the Utah Jazz have a series record of 1-10 and a Game 2 record of 1-10 with a nine-Game 2 losing streak.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2007-08 regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers finished three games ahead of Utah. From 1947 through the 2007 NBA Finals, when NBA teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by three regular-season games, they have posted an 11-12 (.478) best-of-7 series record in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1048 is the 24th best-of-7 NBA playoff series for Utah, and the 84th for the Los Angeles Lakers. In best-of-7 NBA playoff series, Utah has a 10-13 series record, a 6-6 Quarterfinals series record, and a 12-11 Game 1 record, while the Los Angeles Lakers have a 56-27 series record, a 22-7 Quarterfinals record, and a 54-29 Game 1 record. Series 1048 is the fourth best-of-7 NBA playoff series meeting between Utah and Los Angeles Lakers; Utah has won two of the three previous best-of-7 NBA playoff series meetings.