SALT LAKE CITY — 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 today 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 Friday the Jazz started hitting from the outside and moving the ball around enough to clear the inside for the layups its 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.
