Los Angeles Lakers @ Utah Jazz. Game 3 live blog.

1st Quarter

A.K. gets the start instead of Kyle Korver.  Coach Sloan is looking for defense.

Sloppy play by both teams.  5 to’s in the first 2 minutes.

Carlos Boozer with 3 quick rebounds- 1 offensive.

Ronnie Brewer has missed his first 2 jumpers – bad sign.

Bynum picks up 2 quick fouls .  Good sign for Utah if they can get him in early foul trouble.

Jazz are moving very well without the basketball.   Amazing what being back on the home court will do.

Boozer and Millsap are both playing very well, 12 pts and 12 rbs.   Contrarily Kobe and Gasol are quiet, 2-10 for 4 points.

Utah on a 17-4 run, pushing the lead up to 10 pts.  They are owning the boards.

1st quarter score:  Jazz 26, Lakers 17

2nd Quarter

Lakers go on a 6-0 run to start the quarter.

Matt Harpring picks up 3 fouls in 2:15.   C.J.Miles plays exactly 1 minute. The  Lakers bench has overpowered the Jazz.  The Jazz will need more effectiveness from their bench if they want to hold onto the lead and win this game.

Bynum picks up his 3rd foul, barreling over Paul Millsap

Lakers with 3 quick offensive rebounds in the quarter

The effort of Paul Millsap has been incredible.  He ends up on the floor after battling in the paint- picking up 2 offensive rebounds- play ends with Odom fouling Boozer.

Lamar Odom is playing very well- 7 pts, 4 rbs.  Lakers cut the lead to 1.

Deron Williams misses 3 straight free throws.

Carlos Boozer already has a double-double – 11pts, 13 rbs

Kobe is 0-5 from the field.  Just as I type that he scores 4 points.

Jazz are struggling- 6 points in the quarter in 8:30 minutes played.  Make that 10.

Kyle Korver hits a big 3, pushing the lead to 8 (33-41).  The camera pans to the crowd and there is a John Stockton sighting!

Odom is killing the offensive glass, getting most of his points on put backs.

Halftime score:  Jazz 43,  Lakers 39

Both teams are struggling from the field.  Jazz shooting 40%, Lakers shooting 30%.

Both teams have 11 offensive rebounds (Lamar Odom has 5).  Jazz winning the overall battle.

Carlos Boozer has dominated – 13 pts and 16 rbs (Jazz record for most rebounds in the half of a playoff game)

Kobe Bryant is shooting 10% from the field.  Expect that to change in the 2nd half.

The refs are letting the teams play- The physicality will only escalate.

Lakers are only have 4 assists.

3rd Quarter

Jazz start Millsap in the second half,  Odom starts for the Lakers.

Lakers start the quarter on a 5-0 run.  Take the lead.

Deron Williams has missed 4 consecutive free throws.  He’s an 85% ft shooter.

Lakers on a 12-1 run, dating back to the 1st half.

Odom is dominating the paint – he has 17 points on 8-11 shooting.  Lakers up 5.

Kobe with 3 quick field goals.  Lakers up 7.   The run is now 16-3.

Deron Williams misses another free throw.

Jazz get their first field goal in nearly 6 minutes on a Ronnie Brewer jumper.

Jazz are turning the ball over way too much.  Lakers have pushed the lead to double digits.

Trevor Ariza is scorching hot.  He has 8 pts in the quarter.

Lakers are shooting 66% on 10-15 field goals.  They have outscored the Jazz 25-8.

Harpring airballs a 3 pointer and picks up his 4th foul.  The Jazz are in a lot of  trouble.

Deron Williams only has 8 points, on 2-6 fg’s and 5-10 ft’s.  He scored 35 last game.

Kyle Korver is 1-8 from the field.  The Jazz are ice cold.

Bynum quickly picks up 2 more fouls – that’s 5 now for the game.

Jazz are 12-20 (60%) from the free throw line.

The Lakers have outscored the Jazz 51-34 in the past 2 quarters.

3rd Quarter score:  Lakers 68,  Jazz 60

4th Quarter

Jazz go on a 9-3 run, cut the lead to 2.

Pau Gasol is struggling from the line (6-12).

Millsap picks up 2 quick fouls.  He now has 3 for the game.

Harpring has come alive!  6 points in the quarter.  Jazz force a t.o. and take the lead 73-72.

Reggie Miller is a doofus.  I loved him as a player, but as a color commentator he’s worse than Bill Walton.

Jazz have hit their last 9 shots.  The bench has scored 18 of the last 20 Jazz points.

Millsap takes a huge charge from Kobe Bryant.  The Jazz have taken all the momentum in this game, and the crowd is now back in this game.

The Lakers are now in the penalty.  Jazz will shoot ft’s for the rest of the game.

Jazz now over the limit, both teams will shoot ft’s for the rest of the game.

Kobe ties the game @ 76, with 2 ft’s.  Kyle Korver counters with a 3 ball, 79-76 Jazz.

Jazz get called for an 8 second violation – their 16th turnover.  Sloan is fuming.

Kobe Bryant is just 4-22 from the field.

Gasol hits a hook shot, the game is tied again.

Deron Williams to Boozer on the pick and roll.  Jazz have the lead with 45 seconds left, 84-82.  Boozer now has 21 pts and 22 rbs.

Kobe with a layup off the inbounds- tie game.

BOOZER WITH THE PLAY OF THE GAME!  DRIVING LEFT HE DUNKS RIGHT OVER PAU GASOL.  JAZZ TAKE THE LEAD 86-84 WITH 17 SECONDS LEFT.

Gasol then counters with a dunk of his own to tie the game.  86-86 with 11.7 seconds left.

DERON WILLIAMS WITH A CROSSOVER AND FADEAWAY CONNECTS WITH 2.2 SECONDS LEFT!

Kobe misses a 30 footer when time expires.

Final Score:  Jazz 88, Lakers 86

Recap

Jazz didn’t make it look easy but they got the victory with great energy.

Jazz played great defense.  They nearly always win when they don’t give up 100 points.

Carlos Boozer was phenomenal- 23 pts, 22 rbs (ties Jazz franchise playoff record)

The Lakers can blame this loss on rebounding (Jazz had 55 to their 40) and especially free throw shooting (16-26. 62%).

Lakers really got complacent with the big lead.  They played sloppy defense and took poor shots.

Andrew Bynum picked up 5 fouls in 7 minutes of play was crucial.  He’s been a critical part of this Lakers team, especially in this series.

Kobe Bryant really struggled from the field (5-24 for 21%).

Matt Harpring, Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap (14 rbs) provided the spark the Jazz needed in the 4th quarter.  Boozer and Williams were the finishers.

Deron Williams has ice in his veins.