In a cost-cutting move, Heisley approved a Feb. 1 trade that sent All-Star center Pau Gasol and a future second-round draft pick to Los Angeles for next-to-nothing: the expiring contract of Kwame Brown, unproved rookie Javaris Crittenton, the contract of retired guard Aaron McKie and two future first-round picks.

Instantly, the Lakers went from one of seven legitimate contenders in the Western Conference to the unanimous favorite, and that's how the regular season played out.

With Gasol in the starting lineup, the Lakers went 22-5 down the stretch and earned the No. 1 seed in the West.

On Friday night in Game 6 of its series against the Jazz, L.A. moved into the conference finals for the first time since 2004 with a 108-105 win. Gasol finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.

"Gasol has made them an excellent team," said the Jazz's Jarron Collins. "They get a lot of penetration with Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher ducking his head in there and, running the triangle, he's a very intelligent player and a good finisher around the basket. He's really long and he's been really, really effective playing for them."

Collins laughed.

"Arguably," he said, "that's got to be one of the greatest trades ever."

In the first five games of the Jazz series, Gasol averaged 19.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists. He shot 59.7 percent from the field.

With Memphis, Gasol never won a playoff game.

With the Lakers, Gasol reached the conference finals.

"Obviously we want to take advantage of the opportunity we have here," he said after Friday morning's shootaround. " We know it's going to be a very tough game. We know this team is not going to give up. They haven't given up [in] one game yet, so they are going to fight."

The Jazz fought until the final final moments. They cut a 19-point deficit to three and missed two shots to force overtime.

"They hit some really big shots to cut the game down," said Gasol, who believes the best is still ahead of the Lakers.

"We have a lot of potential. We can really get something special accomplished. We're confident going to the next round."

A key to Game 6, as Gasol predicted, was the Lakers' ability to limit the effectiveness of Jazz forward Carlos Boozer.

With Gasol as the primary defender, Boozer averaged 16.8 points in the first five games, but he shot only 42.1 percent. He finished with 12 points on 5-for-16 shooting in Game 6.

"Obviously when you can keep one of their main scorers under control, you give yourself a better chance to win the ballgame," Gasol said. "If we are able to control Boozer and make [Deron] Williams shoot a low percentage . . . we'll have a better chance. But it's hard. They are great players."

luhm@sltrib.com

Gasol gets it done

Pau Gasol's numbers during the Jazz-Laker series:

Min FG FT Reb Ast Blk Pts

Game 1 36:54 8-13 2-4 10 5 2 18

Game 2 43:40 6-11 8-12 5 5 5 20

Game 3 40:17 6-10 0-0 6 1 2 12

Game 4 47:35 11-16 1-2 10 4 1 23

Game 5 44:07 9-17 3-4 6 8 4 21

Game 6 43:41 7-17 3-4 13 2 4 17

Min FG FT Reb Pts

Game 1 36:54 8-13 2-4 10 18

Game 2 43:40 6-11 8-12 5 20

Game 3 40:17 6-10 0-0 6 12

Game 4 47:35 11-16 1-2 10 23

Game 5 44:07 9-17 3-4 6 21

Game 6