JAZZ TOP LAKERS IN SALT LAKE CITY

Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan questioned his team’s toughness following their game one blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and they didn’t show much more of it in losing the second game by double digits either.  On Thursday night in Salt Lake City, however, Sloan’s words may have finally sunk in.  In a grinding, physical performance reminiscent on the great Jazz teams of the past, Utah held the Lakers to 36.8% shooting and Deron Williams hit a fadeway jumper with 2.2 seconds remaining to give his team an 88-86 victory.  With the win, the Jazz cut the Lakers’ series lead to 2-1 with game four set for the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake on Saturday night.

Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with a monstrous ‘double/double’ consisting of 23 points and 22 rebounds.  His rebounding performance tied Karl Malone for most by a Jazz player in the postseason.  Deron Williams just missed his own ‘double/double’ with 13 points and 9 assists, while Ronnie Brewer added 11 points.  The Jazz bench played a big role in the victory, led by Kyle Korver with 11 points and Matt Harpring with 10.  Reserve power forward Paul Milsap scored 7 points and pulled down 11 boards.

The Lakers were led by Lamar Odom, who had a nice game off the bench with 21 points and 14 rebounds.  Pau Gasol scored 20 points and hauled in 9 boards, while Kobe Bryant was limited to 18 points as the only other Laker to score in double figures.  With the exception of Odom’s solid performance, the Los Angeles bench managed only 7 combined points.  After the game Kobe blamed his ‘off night’ (5 for 24 from the field) on a combination of factors:

"I just didn't shoot the ball well. They mixed it up on defense and I didn't do a good job taking advantage of it. It was a combination of those two things."

Utah’s Deron Williams noted that this game was contested at more of a “Jazz-tempo”:

"This is more of our type of game, a grind-it-out defensive game. I thought we played a lot better defense as the score indicates and the field-goal percentages."

Even the curmudgeonly Jerry Sloan was pleased with his team’s effort:

"I thought we attacked them a little bit instead of letting them do what they wanted each time. We got into them a little bit."

Despite their track record of postseason success, the Lakers have struggled mightily in Salt Lake City—Thursday’s loss was their 10^th in 12 playoff games on the Jazz home court.  After Saturday’s game four, the series will return to the Staples Center in Los Angeles for game five on Monday.  If a game six is necessary, it’ll be back at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City on Thursday night.