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LOS ANGELES - Two home games, two home victories and suddenly it's like we've been watching Serena Williams instead of Deron Williams, watching lobs but not alley-oops.
They held serve, that's what the Lakers just did. The team with the home-court advantage opened a series by home-courting its way to consecutive victories.
Didn't do anything special, really, just held serve, did exactly what they were supposed to do.
Well, to use another tennis term - poppycock.
OK, maybe poppycock isn't a tennis term and, in fact, isn't even a term used this century.
But the point is, the Lakers seemed to do more than just the minimum as they won Game 2 on Wednesday night, 120-110.
They established themselves as clearly the better team.
They proved capable of slugging with foul-minded Utah.
They never permitted the Jazz to believe, really believe, it had a chance to win either Game 1 or 2.
Utah's only leads so far in this series have come in the first quarter. Think about that. After the first 12 minutes Sunday and Wednesday, the Jazz was looking up at an opponent even it knows is superior.
Look at the other series in the West. Have the Hornets only held serve against the Spurs? The guess here is San Antonio's players, as veteran and accomplished as they are, aren't even sure that's all that has happened so far in that series.
Much like Game 1, the Lakers again grabbed this one early and squeezed the hope out of the opposition.
Not that this series is as finished as, say, the Denver Nuggets are. For one thing, the Lakers have to now visit the obnoxiously vibrant home of the Jazz. For another, these opponents aren't the
