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This was a throwback game to the type of Lakers-Jazz playoff games that we saw a little over a decade ago.

The Utah Jazz used a huge advantage on the boards and some great execution in the fourth quarter to beat a Lakers team that struggled to get their star and role players going throughout the entire night. Carlos Boozer channeled his inner-Karl Malone by grabbing as many rebounds as he possibly could and using his strength inside to dominate down low. He finished off his 22-rebound performance by scoring 23 points, including six huge points down the stretch to help close out the Lakers. Going into this series, it never seemed like we'd get to see Carlos Boozer perform like this because of LA's size advantage and Paul Millsap breathing down the veteran's neck for playing time. But Boozer stepped up when his needed it the most and it kept them from going down 0-3.

For Los Angeles, it was just another typical playoff game in Utah with another typical playoff game in Utah by Kobe Bryant. They've now won just three of their past 11 playoff games in Utah. And Kobe Bryant resembled the young shooting guard who airballed shots four times as a rookie against the Jazz than the Kobe who is currently in the Top 10 in career playoff points. Kobe Bryant was defended perfectly by an active and strong Ronnie Brewer and the random double teams that the Jazz threw at him. They double-teamed him off of pick and rolls and trapped him whenever he attacked a side of the floor. He was never allowed to get into a flow, which resulted in him shooting just 1-10 from the field in the first half and 5-24 for the game. Usually, when Kobe struggles with his shot like that, he passes the ball around forces the issue and gets to the free throw line to supplement his scoring numbers. But the Jazz only sent him there eight times, which kept him from being much of a factor on offense.

But that wasn't all for the Jazz's attack on the Lakers. Their reserves out-executed the Lakers' reserves in the fourth quarter and showed the depth that I glorified in the pre-season. Paul Millsap scored just seven points but he was huge on the boards with 14 rebounds. Matt Harpring also came alive and scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter when the Jazz took back the momentum. And Kyle Korver hit a huge three to put the Jazz up three at 79-76 with 4:28 left in the game. The Lakers reserves and role players weren't nearly as productive outside of Lamar Odom's 21 points. Andrew Bynum was a non-factor with five fouls in seven minutes and the backcourt off the bench of Shannon Brown and Sasha Vujacic were completely useless.

Why the Jazz Won This Game
The Jazz won this game because they executed when they needed to. On the final three possessions of the game, the Jazz went to Jerry Sloan's textbook plays that have been branded in Utah Jazz basketball for the past 20+ years. With about 50 seconds left in the game, Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer ran the old pick and roll, which led to a Boozer lay-up when the Lakers rotation didn't get there quickly enough. After Kobe Bryant tied the game up on an inbounds lay-up, the Jazz fed Boozer near the baseline and let him go to work against Pau Gasol. He blew past Pau and dunked the ball emphatically like he was trying to earn a big off-season payday. Then on the final possession for the Jazz with the game tied after Pau answered with a dunk of his own, Deron Williams channeled his inner-John Stockton by scoring on a pull-up jumper for the win. Their final plays and execution never broke down and ran like clockwork.

Why the Lakers Lost This Game
The Lakers lost this game because Kobe Bryant wasn't able to score whenever he needed to. Ronnie Brewer and Andrei Kirilenko were phenomenal in cutting off driving angles and Carlos Boozer did a great job of trapping Bryant along with Paul Millsap. Kobe forced wild shots and had very little touch on his close jumpers. He didn't go into Kobe-mode where he tried to put the game on his shoulders and he didn't go into "I'm going to show you how much of a team player I am" mode. He was stuck in limbo with his offensive attack and an indecisive Kobe is not going to lead the Lakers to a playoff win on the road.

Heading into Game Four
The Lakers need to push the tempo of the game and get Utah down big early in the game. They kept the game fast-paced in Los Angeles and thrived off the energy that style gave them. It allowed Trevor Ariza to be a dangerous weapon, which eventually opened things up for Kobe Bryant. For the Jazz, they need to keep their offensive attack slower and efficient. They can't run with the Lakers and can't allow the flow of the game to get out in front of what they're capable of competing with when it comes to battling the Lakers.

Source: http://talkhoops.net/2009/04/2009-nba-playoffs-lakers-jazz-game-3-recap.html