
Jazz hang on for Game 3 win over Lakers as Boozer dominates SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Carlos Boozer broke out of his slump with 27 points and tied his career playoff-high with 20 rebounds, leading the Utah Jazz to a 104-99 victory over Los Angeles on Friday night, cutting the Lakers' lead in the series to 2-1. It was the Lakers' first loss this postseason. Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal is Sunday at Utah. The win made the home teams 11-0 in the four conference semifinal series. Deron Williams had 18 points and 12 assists for Utah, which atoned for two miserable performances in Los Angeles by taking the lead early in the second quarter and hanging on to it the rest of the way. Kobe Bryant scored 34 points for the Lakers, who got within three points with 3:22 to play but never caught the Jazz. Utah improved to 4-1 in the playoffs at home, where the Jazz had the league's best mark in the regular season (37-4). Utah's offense was stagnant in the first two games, but on Friday the Jazz started hitting from the outside and moving the ball around enough to clear the inside for the layups their offense is designed to create. Utah went 39-for-78 from the field (50 percent) and overcame Los Angeles' advantage from the foul line. The Jazz took nine fewer free throws than the Lakers, but went 20-for-28 from the line and held off the late push by Bryant and the Lakers. Los Angeles went on a 6-0 run to get within 95-92, then Boozer went to work. He hit a hook shot over Luke Walton in the lane to put Utah up 97-92, then Bryant lost the ball while falling and didn't get the foul call he wanted. The Jazz used 23 of the 24 seconds they had on the shot clock and Boozer made a shot over Lamar Odom. After Bryant missed a 3-point attempt, the Jazz got the rebound and went to Boozer again for a 101-92 lead with 1:57 left. Walton hit a 3-pointer with 1:08 left to get Los Angeles within 103-97, then Bryant made two from the line to get the Lakers within four. The Jazz missed again at the other end, but the Lakers bobbled the ball, too, and Williams crashed to the floor for a loose ball and forced a jump ball. The guard didn't stand a chance against Lakers center Pau Gasol, but it ate up time and the Lakers turned it over again. Utah forced 18 turnovers and outscored the Lakers 48-36 in the paint. Derek Fisher scored 13 points for the Lakers, exactly one year after his dramatic third-quarter entrance for the Jazz in an overtime win over Golden State. Fisher had flown in from New York, where his daughter was receiving treatment for a cancerous eye tumor. He got a standing ovation in that game, but on Friday was booed with the rest of the Lakers. Mehmet Okur scored 22 points for the Jazz, making 4-of-7 3-pointers, while Andrei Kirilenko and Matt Harpring both added 12 points for Utah Utah led 79-72 at the end of the third quarter and opened the fourth with a 7-2 run, prompting the Lakers to end Bryant's rest on the bench quickly. But shortly after returning, Bryant was quickly called for an offensive foul for an elbow to Harpring's chin that quickly turned the Utah fans' boos to jeers. Game notes LAKERS-JAZZ PREVIEW The Utah Jazz are hoping home court really is an advantage. Right now, they'll take any edge they can get. The Los Angeles Lakers lead the Jazz 2-0 in the Western Conference semifinals and are coming to Utah with thoughts of a second straight sweep in the playoffs. The Jazz had hoped to come out of Los Angeles with a split, but were back home Thursday trying to figure out new ways to slow down league MVP Kobe Bryant and the Lakers while reviving their own sporadic offense. The Lakers have shut down Utah's attempts to get the pick-and-roll rolling and forced the Jazz into taking outside shots, which have not been falling. Utah has also rushed some attempts that led to either turnovers or missed shots that bounced right to the Lakers. The offensive blunders have created easy baskets for Los Angeles, which pulled away to big leads and held off Utah's pushes at the end of both games. "We've got to stay disciplined. We've got to work harder to get open," point guard Deron Williams said. "They're trying to deny us and push us farther out than we want to, so we're starting our offense from farther out and it's disrupting us a little bit." Utah hosts Game 3 on Friday night and hopes playing at home can get the Jazz back in the series. Utah went 37-4 at home during the regular season, but the Lakers were one of the four winners, ending the Jazz's 19-game home winning streak in March. Utah coach Jerry Sloan said playing at home wouldn't do much good if the Jazz don't get back to running their offense. "They're going to defend us. They're not going to drop off and say, 'OK, we're not going to defend you because we're not in L.A.' That's what made them very good. They're a very good defensive team," Sloan said. "They have a tendency to slow us down and we start walking through what we're doing." Lakers coach Phil Jackson said earlier this week that EnergySolutions Arena is one of the loudest places to play in the league and that the noise energizes the Jazz and intimidates the officials. He coyly said Thursday before the team left for Utah that he had "amnesia" about the officials comment, but was still expecting a more intense version of the Jazz in Utah. "They're scrumming around. That's much more decisive on their court," Jackson said. The Lakers have kept All-Star forward Carlos Boozer out of the series so far. Boozer was in foul trouble early in Los Angeles' 120-110 win on Wednesday and finished with just 10 points and five rebounds. He averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds in the regular season. Boozer is just 9-for-24 in the series, stuck outside the lane and missing the mid-range jump shots that went in during the regular season. When Boozer and the Jazz have tried to get inside, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol have been there to either swat away the shot or force an awkward attempt. The Lakers have blocked 17 shots in the two games. "Right now they're packing the lane. That's what I would if I was their team right now. Pack the lane and make us hit jump shots," Boozer said. "We have to knock them down." Utah was in the same position last spring, when Houston won the first two games of the opening round and came to Utah with a 2-0 lead. The Jazz won twice at home to tie the series and ended up winning it in seven games. Boozer said the Jazz need to win one before they can think about rallying again. The Lakers, meanwhile, can afford to be much more relaxed. Los Angeles is 6-0 so far in the playoffs, beating the Nuggets twice in Denver to clinch the opening round series. Denver's altitude is even higher than Salt Lake City's 4,500 feet, so the Lakers aren't worried much about the thin air. "We obviously have an advantage. What we did was take care of our home court," said Bryant, who is averaging 36 points in the two games. "Now we've got to try and stop them from taking care of their home court." Copyright 2007 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited |
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GAME NOTES NOTES & CONNECTIONS The Lakers won their season series with Utah (3-1) for the second consecutive season, having taken last season’s series with the Jazz (2-1) as well. The Jazz and Lakers have now met 143 times in the regular season (91-52), 125 times since the Jazz moved to Utah (78-47). The Lakers have gone 6-4 in their last 10 overall games with the Jazz. The Lakers are 14-3 all-time against the Jazz at STAPLES Center (12-2 in their last 14 home games). In Utah, the Lakers are 3-3 in their last six road games and have gone 4-6 in their last 10 games at EnergySolutions Arena overall. Under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are 21-10 against Utah. Last season, the Lakers scored a series record 132 points in a 132-102 victory over the Jazz 11/30/06 in their lone game at STAPLES Center, improving upon the old mark of 131 points achieved at Utah on December 4, 1986. Additionally in that game, Kobe Bryant established a new series-high with 52 points against the Jazz, surpassing his own record of 43 points (3/22/05) while also bettering Adrian Dantley’s Jazz mark of 50 established in November of 1979. Bryant’s 30-point third quarter tied his own franchise record and is tied for the fourth-highest scoring quarter in NBA history. In 40 games against the Jazz (32 starts), Bryant is averaging 26.0 points. In their meeting on 12/28/07 Bryant scored his 1,000th career point against the Jazz and is averaging 33.3 points against Utah over the last two seasons and 29.8 points this season against the Jazz. Additionally, Lakers guard Derek Fisher played last season for Utah, appearing in all 82 games, starting 61 and averaging 10.1 points and 3.3 assists in 27.9 minutes.
BRYANT LONE UNANIMOUS SELECTION TO ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM; 3rd STRAIGHT SELECTION; 6th IN LAST 7 YEARS
LAKERS vs. UTAH IN THE POSTSEASON
JACKSON-LED TEAMS A TOUGH OUT AFTER WINNING GAME 1
CLOSING IT OUT Overall, under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are now 17-10 in close-out games. The Lakers have won 22 of their last 23 series when holding the opportunity to close-out at any point. Their last series loss when having a close-out game came in 2006 when the Lakers squandered a 3-1 series lead against the Phoenix Suns. Prior to that, the Lakers had not lost a series when having a close-out game since their 1993 First Round meeting with Phoenix in which they led 2-0 before ultimately losing the next three straight and the series. Click here to read the full Game Notes |
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