SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -Now that they’ve avoided a sweep against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Utah Jazz can focus on making it a true series once again.
The Jazz beat the Lakers 88-86 on Thursday night, getting within 2-1 in the series and having a chance to tie it when Utah hosts Game 4 on Saturday.
Utah rallied from a 13-point deficit, then held off several runs by the Lakers down the stretch before winning it on Deron Williams’ fadeaway jumper with 2.2 seconds left.
“They had a good lead on us – 13 points – and we fought back and took advantage of our opportunities,” said Carlos Boozer, who tied a franchise playoff record by pulling down 22 rebounds. “We won a big game for us.”
Boozer also scored 23 points and Williams finished with 13 points and nine assists, overcoming a bad shooting night with his clutch shot at the end of a game the Jazz couldn’t afford to lose.
“I was playing pretty poor and I just wanted to make up for it a little bit on that last shot,” Williams said.
After shooting 58 percent in first two games, the Lakers were 32-for-87 in Game 3. Los Angeles still had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Kobe Bryant’s 3-pointer missed and the Lakers’ hopes of a sweep and a long rest before the second round were done.
Bryant managed to score 18 points despite going 5-for-24 from the floor.
hoot the ball well,” Bryant said. “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.”
Lamar Odom led the Lakers with 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Bryant scored 18 despite going just 5-for-24 from the floor. Pau Gasol added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who faced much better defense than Utah had played in the first two games.
The Jazz played again without Mehmet Okur, who has been out with a strained right hamstring, but survived without their second-leading scorer.
Both teams were sporadic, excelling one quarter and stalling the next. Utah regrouped after scoring just 17 in both the second and third quarters with an inspired fourth, outscoring the Lakers 28-18 and retaking the lead every time Los Angeles tied it down the stretch.
“This is more of our type of game, a grind-it-out defensive game,” Williams said. “I thought we played a lot better defense as the score indicates and the field-goal percentages.”
Celtics 107, Bulls 86
At Chicago, Paul Pierce scored 24 points, Rajon Rondo added 20 and the defending champion Celtics took a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
The teams split two dramatic games in Boston, but this one never really was in doubt. The Celtics led by 11 after one quarter and 22 at the half.
2 and missing practice Tuesday, turning in another dominant postseason performance. Besides hitting eight of 15 shots, he had 11 rebounds and six assists. He’s now averaging 22.7 points, 9.7 assists and 10.7 rebounds in the series.
The Bulls committed 22 turnovers, shot 37.5 percent from the field and were 17-of-27 at the line after going 46-of-51 in the first two games. Ben Gordon scored 15 on 5-of-13 shooting after pouring in 42 in Game 2, while John Salmons added 14.
Mavericks 88, Spurs 67
At Dallas, Erick Dampier and the Mavericks slapped around the Spurs with tight defense, the return of Dirk Nowitzki’s shooting touch and the energy of their home crowd, turning it into a 2-1 lead in their first-round series.
Dampier drew the scrutiny of the league office for saying he would pop Tony Parker on his first drive of this game. Dampier ended up going the whole game without colliding with Parker – although he did swat away a shot during a frenzied first-half defensive performance by the Mavericks.
San Antonio finished with its fewest points in a playoff game, while it was the fewest Dallas ever allowed in the postseason. The Mavericks improved to 16-1 at home since the All-Star break, and to 7-1 in games following 20-point losses.
Nowitzki had 20 points and seven rebounds, hitting the bench for good once Dallas’ lead reached 30. Parker was San Antonio’s leading scorer with just 12 points – down from 38 the previous game.
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