Game 3 Post-Game Quotes
Jazz 88, Lakers 86

NEXT: Saturday, April 25 7:00 PM MT

PLAYOFF TICKETS

UTAH JAZZ QUOTES:
Notes: Carlos Boozer finished with 22 points and 23 rebounds… With the 22 rebounds, Boozer tied/bested his career playoff-high for rebounds… There have been five 20-20 games in Jazz playoff history, the last was (5/9/08 by Boozer)… Boozer grabbed Jazz playoff franchise records for rebounds in a quarter (11), half (16) and (tied for) game (22) (previous records were held by Karl Malone vs. Golden State on 4/29/89 with 8, 14 and 22 respectively)… Boozer’s 16 first half rebounds are the most in an NBA playoff game since Ben Wallace (Det.) had 17 in the second half at Mil., 4/24/04… Jazz improve to 10-2 all-time at home during the playoffs against the Lakers.

On the defensive efforts of the Jazz
“I thought right in the beginning of the game we got off to a fairly decent start because we kind of attacked them a little bit more than we were having them attack us on their possession. It seemed like our confidence grew the more we tried to play against them.”

On the play of Matt Harpring
“Matt Harpring—we were kind of dead on the vine for a little bit in the third quarter. They got the lead, we came out kind of soft and we didn’t look like we were going to compete against them. Fouls and that sort of thing looked like we were not able to run the floor. I put Matt in the game and had to play him with Paul, Boozer had his fourth foul. We did a really good job executing our offense and making shots and that kept us in the ballgame. It really picked our spirits up and made us believe we could come back in the game, and that’s basically what happened.”

On the game
“We needed that. It’s given us some confidence. We were down like nine or so in the second half and it was kind of like ‘this is it.’ We either pick it up and put together a little run or the series is probably over. Guys responded, came alive and made a little run. It’s a big win.”

On the defense on Kobe Bryant
“You’ve got to give Ronnie Brewer a lot of credit. We tried to make it hard on him, we tried to double him, tried to get the ball out of his hands, but he’s capable of hitting just amazing shots and in the first couple of games he did and tonight they didn’t go in for him. We know he’s going to take them again on Saturday night and we’ve just got to be ready.”

On his defense of Kobe Bryant
“Game one and game two he was making tough shots, hand in his face, double team, but I just wanted to continue to do the same thing I’ve been doing, make him work, be on his body, make him take contested shots and don’t give him open shots. There was sometimes when he came open and he got some easy baskets, but for the most part we were in his face, great help defense, and we made him take tough shots.”
Additional quotes on back…

On the last second shot by Kobe Bryant
“I knew he couldn’t attack the basket. I tried to get up on him as close as I possibly could without fouling him and when he let it go I just turned and looked cause I thought it had potential to go in and when it hit the side I was super excited because now we have a chance.”

On the game
“We’ve got to play Jazz basketball, be physical, be aggressive. I mean the reason why we won the game was because they shot 36 percent from the floor, not shooting 60 or 80 in the first quarter or whatever the case may be. We made them shoot 36 percent that’s the way we look at it. And for us to have a chance to win, there a very good team, they had a good lead on us, 13 points, and we fought back and took advantage of our opportunities and we won a big game for us.”

On his left hand dunk over Gasol
“I had a couple of hook shots that fell short and I just told myself that if I get the ball again on the block I’m just going to go dunk it and see what happens. I got by him and went and dunked it. I thought it could have been an and-one, but either way it gave us a good little lift and got the crowd into it and set a good tone for us.”

On the last play
“Well I told Booz, we been trying to do pick-and-rolls, and they’ve been trapping me all day, so I said they’re so early, just slip it and I’ll go one-on-one. I had to make up for my horrible play all night, and I’m glad I hit the shot.”

On Carlos Boozer’s play
“He’s back. You know, he set the tempo in that first quarter, coming out, getting a lot of rebounds, scoring the basketball. He’s a beast, man.”

On the game
“This is more of our type of game. Grind it out defensive game. I thought we played a lot better defense as the score indicates, and the field goal percentages. Sixty-five percent, 62 percent in a half, that’s unacceptable and you’re just not going to win ball games if a team shoots that against you.”

On the game-winning shot
“It was supposed to be a pick-and-roll between me and Booze, but they had been trapping me all night making it hard for me to find people. So I just told them if it looks like they were coming up early just to slip in and let me go one-on-one. And that’s what Booze did.”

BOXSCORE | GAME RECAP | 2009 PLAYOFF CENTRAL | PLAYOFF TICKETS

LOS ANGELES LAKERS QUOTES:
Notes: The Lakers are 2-10 all-time in the playoffs against the Jazz in Salt Lake City and are 10-15 all time in the postseason. Kobe Bryant scored 18 points in tonight’s loss. All-time Kobe has only won one playoff game in Utah (now 1-9). Bryant shot only 10% from the field in the first half. The last time Kobe Bryant shot less than 10% from the field in a playoff half (min 10 FGA) was 6/16/00 at Indiana, when he went 1-of-11 in the second half.

On tonight’s game
“Obviously disappointed about the outcome of that game, I thought we played a good enough third quarter. We didn’t finish it very well, but carried the attack out there in the third quarter and got ourselves playing some what better. We had our looks at the end, we just didn’t make some three’s.”

Kobe’s Shooting night
“He has had a couple, I mean everybody goes through a game once in awhile like this. A lot of things didn’t click for him out there tonight, you know it hurt but he made some big plays down the stretch, helped us out gave, us a chance to win.”

On the game
“We started getting lazy and they started hitting shots. We started leaving guys open and they knocked down shots.”
On what needs to be done different on Saturday (Game 4)

“Rebounding. They are killing us on the boards. We have to get in there and rebound and do a better job of rebounding.”
On the crowd having an effect

“Maybe for them but for us I think we were focused on what we had to do. We didn’t rebound well so that kind of killed us.”

On his performance tonight
“It’s a combination of two things. One, I just didn’t shoot the ball well and two they did a good job mixing up their defense.”

On the adjustment for Saturday (Game 4)
“Shoot better. Just try to make shots, that’s all and keep the defense honest. I got some good looks. It’s my responsibility to put the ball in the hole. “

On the Jazz playing well at home
“I think we’ll play better. We did ok tonight. Carlos (Boozer) and Deron (Williams) obviously had a big game. We played pretty well in terms of staying in the game, it just didn’t work out for us.”

BOXSCORE | GAME RECAP | 2009 PLAYOFF CENTRAL | PLAYOFF TICKETS