Lakers see rebounding as trouble spot against Utah

Why can't they rebound? Are they physical enough to win a best-of-seven series against Utah? Will Kobe Bryant need to get to the line 20 times every game to keep his team in the series?

So many questions a day after the Lakers' 109-98 series-opening victory, some of them valid after the Lakers lost most of a 19-point lead and were thoroughly overwhelmed on the boards, 58-41.

"We definitely have to match that physicality," Pau Gasol said. "They can't feel that they can overpower us or take advantage of us on the offensive boards."

Utah wasn't a great rebounding team during the regular season, finishing 24th in the league, but the Jazz looked like a team of Dennis Rodmans against the Lakers.

Well, sort of.

"It's either that, or the two hands in the back," Bryant said, referring to the hands-on style of the Jazz.

Utah was called for 33 fouls in Game 1, nine more than its league-leading average per game in the regular season.

Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko fouled out, and shooting guard Ronnie Brewer even got into the act with five fouls.

The Lakers are expecting more of the same Wednesday in Game 2, and Coach Phil Jackson might have been sending a preliminary message to the next officiating crew when asked about it Monday.

"They bring the [physical] element up, let the referees make a decision upon what is a foul and isn't, and it escalates," he said.

Utah has its share of issues too, primarily what to do with Bryant.

The Jazz can send more players at Bryant and force Gasol and Lamar Odom to do the damage. Or Utah can try to stop Bryant one-on-one, which is also kind of a problem.

Bryant made a team playoff-record 21 free throws in Game 1, leading Utah Coach Jerry Sloan to figure out how to stop him for Game 2.

"Make him stay at home," Sloan quipped.

------

Andrew Bynum is getting another medical opinion on his left knee and could undergo surgery depending on the results of an exam Wednesday with knee specialist Steven Gecha in Princeton, N.J.

Bynum has already consulted with a specialist outside of the Lakers -- David Altchek of New York.

Gecha is somewhat familiar with Bynum, having performed an unspecified operation on Bynum's right knee when Bynum was 12 years old.