The Lakers began their Western Conference Title defense today in championship fashion with a 113-100 win over the eigth seeded Utah Jazz.

The story for the Lakers today was Kobe in the clutch and Trevor Ariza draining open shot after open shot.

Ariza got off early knocking down two big threes followed by a couple more from former Michigan State guard Shannon Brown. As for Kobe, well in typical Kobe Bryant fashion, Bryant got his teammates going first and then closed out the second half with nine big points, and answered Utah when the Jazz cut it to single digits in the fourth with two big shots to open the lead back to 13.

As for Utah, the Jazz competed and were at their best when the ball was in the hands of their all star point guard Derron Williams. Williams was able to create opportuities for his teammates and finished the game with 17 assists.

If the Lakers want to head to Utah with a 2-0 lead though, they will need to finish the game. Lakers led by 22 at one point in the game only to see the Jazz get it to nine twice.

Game Two will be Tuesday night in L.A. Look for the Lakers to take that 2-0 lead back to Utah and finish this series in five.