The Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz will tip off later this evening in Staples Center, downtown Los Angeles. The Jazz have lost six out of their last eight coming into the playoffs while the Lakers have won seven of their last 10.

Kobe Bryant, who is the third leading scorer in the NBA averaging 26.8 points a game, has been ready for this day since last year loss to the Boston Celtics. Kobe may want to win a NBA Championship without Shaq and his supporting cast this year is one that can help him.

Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom (would have been sixth man of the year if Bynum played all 82 games) or shall I call them the "seven foot plus club," is the type of support players Kobe has looked for since the "Diesel" left. Between the three, they average over 44 points a game and 25 rebounds a game. That is a load of statistics for a Laker team that goes 11 deep. But the series verse the Jazz will include roll players to step up. Laker players like Trevor Ariza, who has played a solid role all year, and Sasha Vujacic will need to shoot well from the field. The two combined for 24 points in their blowout win against the Jazz earlier this week in the last game of the regular season.

The Jazz may be the seventh best scoring team in the NBA, averaging 103 points a game, but Jerry Sloan's Utah team has struggled to play defense all year. The Jazz has lost 15 games after scoring 100 points or more.

Lets not take any credit away from Deron Williams, who has had another spectacular year. Williams averaged 19.4 points a game and 10.7 assist along with his two steals per game. Statistically, Deron stands among the best in the league but he has yet to get that consistent defense from Andrei Kirilenko, who is a two time All Defensive Team player.

The Jazz have had issues all year with either Carlos Boozers injury or someone else needing attention. When you talk about this team, it is hard not to mention that this same team took the Lakers to a sixth game in Salt Lake in last years Western Conference Finals. You cannot help to think that this team could give Phil Jackson's team a run for their money. Jackson, who is number one all time in playoff wins with 193, has enjoyed having championship teams year in and year out.

The Jazz and Lakers have never played each other in the first round. The game will tip off at 3 p.m. ET in downtown Los Angeles.