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Fresh off MVP award, Bryant leads Lakers vs. Jazz

May 7, 2008 - 1:04 PM Utah at LA Lakers 10:30 pm EDT Western Conference semifinals Lakers lead, 1-0

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) - Kobe Bryant is ready to solidify his title as the NBA's Most Valuable Player.

Bryant and the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers try to take a two-games-to none lead in the Western Conference semifinals when they host the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz for Game Two on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old Bryant was awarded his first MVP trophy on Tuesday after averaging 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game while leading the Lakers (57-25) to the best record in the competitive Western Conference.

The 10-time All-Star continued his offensive assault in the first round of the playoffs, averaging 33.5 points during a four-game sweep of the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets.

The Jazz had no answer for Bryant in Game One as he poured in 38 points - including a franchise-record 21 at the free-throw line - to lead Los Angeles to a 109-98 victory on Sunday.

Pau Gasol chipped in 18 points and 10 rebounds and Lamar Odom had 16 and nine for the Lakers, who struggled somewhat to put Utah away after leading by as many as 17 points.

"We avoided a game in which we easily could of come up on the losing end of," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

Utah closed the margin to 91-87 with just under five minutes left to play in the fourth quarter before Bryant found Gasol streaking to the basket on consecutive plays, the latter putting Los Angeles ahead 101-90 with just under a minute remaining.

"We stayed focused even though they had those runs, we weathered the storms and I think we did a good job of staying together," Lakers center Ronny Turiaf said.