Lakers Hit Sour Note in Utah

There was a reason the Utah Jazz made the playoffs this year - their 37-4 record on their home court also known as the Salt Palace. That mark was the best home record of any NBA team this year. One of those four defeats came at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lake Show was hoping to add another loss to the Jazz home ledger, and for a few minutes tonight, that looked like it might happen. The Lakers jumped out to a quick 11-3 lead over the first 2:53 of the game. The Jazz stormed back though, going on a 15-3 run over the next six minutes to take a four point lead. The Lakers managed to forage ahead one last time at 23-21 on a Ronny Turiaf dunk with 1:24 to play in the opening period.

From there, the Jazz took control of the game. A 28-15 run put them up by 13 with 2:32 to play in the first half. The Jazz took a 52-43 halftime lead. The Lakers tried to rally in the third quarter, but could never trim the margin below six points. After three quarters, the Jazz led by seven at 79-72. The Jazz extended the lead to 12 points at 86-74 with 9:02 to play in the final period. The Lakers though would rally, going on an 18-9 run to cut the Jazz lead to 95-92 with 3:21 to play. The Jazz and Carlos Boozer would put the game away though as he made three consecutive shots over the next minute and a half, while a turnover and two Laker misses on three-pointers pushed the lead back to nine with 1:57 to play. The Lakers simply ran out of time and ended up losing 104-99.

Game four of the series will be on your local ABC station starting at 3:30 ET/12:30 PT on Sunday.

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