Well, that game was quite the improvement from my perspective. Duncan getting into foul trouble and turning the ball over like crazy was obviously a big part of it, but Utah played really well. Williams and Boozer were awesome as they always are (especially Williams, who made a ton of big shots for them. He's definitely become a star this postseason), but the bench was huge too, they really never lost a step when they had to rest starters, and in a lot of cases they actually played better. The defense was much improved too, especially Okur, who did a great job on Duncan (it'd be really nice if he could starting scoring again though). I still think they're going to lose the series (though they've got a good chance in game four. Like I've said before, totally different team at home), but this was a big win for the team as far as the future is concerned. They now know they're more than capable of hanging with the best of the best.
Edit:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2884339 There's a story that might interest you. Kobe is apparently upset with the direction of the Lakers and demanding that the Lakers bring West back in as GM, or he wants to be traded. I'm sure he'll calm down and get over it before the season starts, but it's still an interesting situation