OH WOW, PAU!

You have got to hand it to Mitch Kupchack.

This has got to be the best trash-to-riches story since the Bulls bought the Suns' 7th pick and turned it into Luol Deng or since Ainge turned Al Jefferson and Jeff Green into Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

Pau Gasol, Spaniard extraordinaire, forcefully took the baton of responsiblity from MVP Kobe Bryant to turn the last minute of Game 5 into his own personal highlight reel and catapult the Lakers to a 3-2 series lead over the Jazz.

What made this even more surprising was how Kobe seemed to totally trust Pau, a Laker for half a season, with the game on the line.

Now, this exciting and explosive series goes back to Utah, arguably the hardest homecourt to steal a game from. But I got a good feeling about this. I think the Lakers are due.

ALL JAZZED UP!

It really shouldn't have come as such a surprise.

After all, the mighty Lakers with this year's MVP won Game 1 by just 10 pts and Game 2 by 11points, unlike the blowouts from the first round.

Also, this team boasted of a defensive ace, an All Star caliber point guard, and 2 All Star big men. No to mention a 3 point threat from the bench and a solid bench.

So why are we still surprise that the Jazz won Game 3 in their own home court?

After all, unlike the first two games, Carlos Boozer got his game going right from the very first quarter. Deron Williams was both dominant and unselfish and Memo Okur rained threes down on the suddenly flustered Lakers.

But even the Jazz's new found offensive potency failed to knock out the Lakers immediately. Led by MVP Kobe Bryant, the Lakers fought back to within 3 in the last 2 minutes. Then Boozer hit consecutive baskets, Lakers failed to score on their possessions and the Jazz faithful were brought back to life.

What does this mean? Only that the Lakers will have to play an extra game before moving on to the Conference Finals. The Jazz, like the Hornets, are a team learning about what it takes to win in the playoffs.

But for now, it's gonna be Lakers ball.