Under Review: Ducks and Lakers

How great is it to be a fan of Southern California's professional sports teams right now?

The Los Angeles Lakers, a favorite to make it to the NBA Finals and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, moved on to the second round beating the Utah Jazz in four out of five games.

Not to be out done, the eighth seeded Anaheim Ducks became the fourth NHL team to knock off the No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs.

The Lakers performed the way they were expected to against Utah, winning four games by a margin of at least 10 points.

They scored more than 100 points in their wins, as the series showcased strong offensive units.

Los Angeles could have swept the Jazz if it weren't for a last second jumper by guard Deron Williams to prevent Game 3 from going into overtime.

In the first two games, Kobe Bryant elected to try and get his teammates more involved and dished out 17 assists to go with his 50 points combined.

When the tactic didn't work in Game 3, he did what he had to do and took over Games 4 and 5, scoring a combined 69 points, en route to the series win.

The one weak spot in the Lakers playoff lineup so far has been Andrew Bynum.

Bynum, who came back from a knee injury, scored 25 points in the entire series and had problems defending Paul Millsap, a bench player.

However, the bigger story Monday night was the Ducks' series win over the San Jose Sharks - a team that had compiled the best record during the regular season.

Anaheim needed six games to knock San Jose out of the playoffs, winning an impressive three of four games on the road.

The Ducks set the tone early with a shutout of the Sharks in front of their own fans in Game 1.

Anaheim goalkeeper Jonas Hiller was the most valuable player in this series, stopping more than 30 shots in every game and limiting the Sharks to 10 goals in six games, for an average of less than two goals per game.

This series was heated too, as the Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf and the Sharks Joe Thornton had been going toe-to-toe throughout each game and, finally, in Game 6, they dropped the gloves and threw punches.

Thornton may have won the fight, but the Ducks won the war and sent San Jose home early.

Even though the Ducks barely made the playoffs, they're turning things around at the right time. After a three game losing streak in early March, Anaheim won 11 of their final 15 games of the season and 15 of their last 20 overall.

Don't forget that the Ducks won the Stanley Cup two years ago and still have some of the roster intact. With the series wins over the weekend, it could be the starting point of a successful postseason in Southern California.