Darren Misener

The Journey Home
I know I'm bloggin' basketball, but it's been root, root, root for the home team this round of the playoffs and with absolutely no shame. Way out West, what looked like an easy series for the Lakers early, has done a 180 since the sneakers hit the court in Utah.

The Jazz are now 9-1 against the Lakers in home playoff games all-time and an incredible 18-2 in the third game of a playoff series in Salt Lake City -- that's how you change the big MO. Some opposing players, like Utah Round 1 opponent the Rockets, give the fans a lot of the credit.

“(The Jazz) have good fans, they are loud and they are into it.” Rockets forward Shane Battier said. “There is a reason why they are 39-5 here on the year. (The Jazz) always draw energy from the fans and to beat them you have to take the crowd out of the game and play a solid game.”

After dusting L.A. 104-99 in Game 3, Utah needed overtime and possibly some good luck to make good on those impressive home credentials in Game 4. On one of the first plays of the game, Lakers star Kobe Bryant felt something not right in his back. What exactly happened?

“Second play of the game. Turnaround jump shot. Spun and back just caught on me. It was out since," said Bryant.

But the MVP was not one to blame anyone or anything for the loss.

“No excuses for me. AK (Andrei Kirilenko) did a great job. Great defensive player," said Bryant. "They just did a terrific job. They made big plays when they needed to, and you know, we cut it to within one. Derek makes a big shot. We gave ourselves opportunities. It just didn’t work out for us."

One reason it didn't work out was the Jazz's shooting from the line, perhaps a comfort zone at home. In a game where the margin for error was zero, the Jazz hit 16 straight free throws to end the game. For the final 14:04 the Jazz didn't miss a single free throw. Now they just need to do it on the road...