Saturday 5/26

Utah v San Antonio (Spurs up 2-1) – The Jazz remained undefeated at home during the playoffs by handing SA their worst loss of the entire season. The 26 point victory gives Utah a jolt in the arm and some much needed confidence. Second year PG Deron Williams continued his stellar play with 31 points (4-5 on threes & 7-8 free throws), 8 assists and 5 steals. Carlos Boozer was again the other main cog in the Jazz attack grabbing 12 boards and scoring 27 points on 12-19 shooting. As usual, Utah’s bench fed off their home crowd’s energy and came through with their best performance of the Conference Finals. The Jazz (53.2%) also shot above 50% for the first time all series while at the same time holding the Spurs (43.8%) under 50% for the first time in the series.

I’m sure SA will point to Tim Duncan’s foul trouble as the reason they struggled, but fouls didn’t make Manu Ginobili shoot 4-12 from the field. Also worth noting in the lame excuse department is that Utah’s Memo Okur did not score in 21 minutes of action due to fouls. Tony Parker (25 points & 7 assists) played well for the Spurs but TP continues to lose the PG battle against D Wil. I expect SA to bounce back in a big way in Game 4 and give the Jazz all they can handle. The question then becomes will Utah respond in kind and make this a full blown series?