Spurs-Jazz Preview

By LYNN DeBRUIN
Posted May 04 2012 3:17PM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Al Jefferson waited seven years for this. Yet instead of experiencing playoff excitement, the Utah Jazz center has been part of two embarrassing losses with a team he acknowledged was "unraveling" before his eyes against the San Antonio Spurs.

Now down 0-2 in their first-round Western Conference series, the Jazz need to turn things around in a big way with Game 3 set for Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

That means more production from their bigs.

Jefferson, for one, is pushing for more minutes for Utah's big lineup that entails bringing second-year pro Derrick Favors in at power forward and moving Paul Millsap to small forward.

"I think the big lineup could hurt them if we get into it earlier in the game instead of doing it when we're already down," Jefferson said Friday.

Favors is all for it.

"I'm ready for anything," the 6-foot-10 forward said. "If (coach) gives me minutes, I'm ready for it."

The Jazz have lost two games by a combined 46 points, yet when Favors is on the floor, Utah has outscored the Spurs by six points.

When he left Wednesday's game in the second quarter, the Jazz were down just five only to see San Antonio close out the half on a 22-2 run.

Granted, the run also coincided with the return of Tony Parker and Tim Duncan.

"That run could have happened if I was still in the game," Favors said.

But the athletic, energetic Favors wants the challenge.

When he looks across the floor at Duncan, he isn't intimidated but motivated.

"What he's accomplished, that's what I want to accomplish - whether it's MVP, championships, All-Star (teams)," said Favors, who is averaging 8.5 rebounds and eight points in 23.5 minutes in his first two career postseason games.

Favors is not cocky enough to believe he's there yet. But he's confident he can get there.

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin acknowledged he needs to get Favors on the floor more.

"He's played well the minutes he's played," Corbin said.

"If the big lineup is the answer or him at 4 and playing smaller, we've got to see," Corbin said. "We've got to make sure we're giving ourselves chances to win and we need everybody to play better, and with him on the floor, we are better."

Jefferson certainly hasn't played up to his Western Conference player of the week award he won in mid-April when he posted three double-doubles and averaged 20 points, a league-high 15.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 blocks during a 3-0 Jazz run.

In two postseason losses, he is averaging 13 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists in 31 minutes. He has made 13 of 31 shots.

"I know I can be better than what I've been," said Jefferson, in the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season in 2005. "But I'm just a little more frustrated, too, with everything that's been going on and the way we've been playing and the way things are kind of unraveling as a team.

"But we've been through it before, many times this season. We just got to get it together as a team because no one man can do it. We don't have any superstars."

Jefferson is quick to give Duncan credit for keeping him off his spot, and sometimes even preventing passes from going inside to him.

Corbin said the Jazz also need to execute better, and that means setting better screens, making better passes and getting the ball deeper in to Jefferson.

Jefferson said he needs to do a better job of holding his position against the physical Duncan.

"I'm just going to stand my spot, let him do all the fighting and tell my teammates to give me the ball," Jefferson said.

Despite using the word "unraveling," Jefferson insisted the team chemistry that he raved about all year remains intact.

"It's been a roller coaster ride all year," he said. "We've been through it and always find our way to bounce back. I think we got one more bounce back in us."

The Spurs expect as much.

San Antonio center Boris Diaw knows Salt Lake City is a tough place to play.

"We know the third game will be the hardest in the series," Diaw said.

Corbin, who learned from Hall of Famer Jerry Sloan, said Sloan relished these situations.

"Your back is up against wall," he said. "Who's going to continue to fight? That's what you want to see in these situations. It's easy to fold your tent and go home and say, `Oh, it's too much to do.' But fighters fight, competitors compete. Guys that want to quit will quit."

Parker helps, Spurs take 3-0 lead over Jazz

By LYNN DeBRUIN
Posted May 06 2012 2:20AM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Through nearly 40 minutes, the Utah Jazz made Tony Parker look average.

He had 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting, and the San Antonio Spurs were clinging to a five-point lead.

Parker the MVP candidate then took over.

"They threw a lot of guys at me, so I needed to be more patient and then in the fourth quarter I was more aggressive," said Parker, who hit all five field goals and went 6 of 6 from the line in the final period to finish with 27 points.

His effort fueled a 102-90 victory Saturday night that gave the Spurs a 3-0 lead in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.

No NBA team has ever overcome an 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. The Spurs can close it out Monday night in Salt Lake City.

"My guys are experienced to realize an NBA game is 48 minutes. Anything can happen," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "You can look at the other games and other series and realize you don't stop playing. They stick with each other and the system. That experience is something they have gained over a long period of time and they feel comfortable with each other, even in a tough environment like we had here tonight."

A sellout crowd of 19,911 was energized from the start, standing from pregame festivities that saw a massive green-and-yellow balloon drop.

The fans were on their feet again when a young Utah lineup brought the Jazz back after they trailed by 13 in the fourth.

DeMarre Carroll scored on a putback, rookie Alec Burks sank a pair of free throws and Derrick Favors scored after grabbing another offensive rebound to get Utah to 81-74 with 8:58 remaining. Favors then hit a 7-footer to make it a five-point game.

"He's a handful and he's very physical," Parker said about Favors, who had 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in his most extensive action of the series. "He goes to the boards hard."

Parker, who took the Spurs on his shoulders this season, showed he can finish just as strong.

His 5-foot floater halted Utah's run, then Matt Bonner blocked Favors' shot to set up Stephen Jackson's fast-break layup.

Parker's 18-foot jumper then bumped San Antonio's lead back to 10 with 5:44 left.

Utah would only get within eight after that on Paul Millsap's dunk. But Parker was there to finish the Jazz off at the line.

"We needed to get this one because we know they're not going to give up, especially in this building," said Spurs guard Danny Green, who finished with 14 points, including a block and fast-break layup that helped seal the game midway through the fourth.

The Jazz, meanwhile, lamented the missed free throws - 12 in all in a game they lost by 12 points.

"Those were free points we need in a game like this," said Jazz point guard Devin Harris.

Harris, after scoring just 12 points in the first two games combined, had 12 in the first quarter and finished with 21.

Al Jefferson also rebounded from two sub-par games and finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds on 10-of-18 shooting.

Jefferson, in the end, was thinking more about Utah's bad plays.

"We can't make mistakes," said Jefferson, playing in his first playoff series since he was a rookie in 2005. "We've got to play a perfect game to even have a chance to beat a team like this. We make too many mistakes during the crunch time of the game and they made us pay every time."

Popovich gave reserve Tiago Splitter plenty of credit.

Splitter missed Game 2 because of a bruised wrist, but had 10 points, eight boards and a blocked shot. He had four points and five rebounds in the fourth quarter alone.

"I thought Tiago was huge for us," Popovich said. "When Favors was giving us trouble, he made shots, got the boards and then scored a bunch during the most important time of the game."

The last time the two teams met in the postseason, in the 2007 Western Conference finals, the Spurs went on to win the NBA title.

San Antonio, with coach of the year Popovich, its Big 3 and collection of castoffs, foreigners and rookies, looks intent on doing the same.

The Spurs won the first two games by 46 points combined, but figured Saturday's would be the toughest of the series.

They were right.

"We expected them to have a much better effort," said Tim Duncan, who had 17 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the Spurs. "It was a good win for us. We had a lot of guys really step up and play well for us."

Utah's Tyrone Corbin, still looking for his postseason coaching victory, tried several different approaches Saturday.

He put 6-foot-8 swingman Gordon Hayward on Parker. And Corbin went to his Big 3 lineup early and often.

Corbin had said he wanted Favors to play more, and Favors showed why he deserves more minutes.

He blocked Splitter's jam attempt early in the second quarter then scored on a putback that gave Utah a 41-40 lead. He followed with a 9-foot turnaround jumper over DeJuan Blair, and then grabbed his own miss and drew the foul from Duncan. He made one of two free throws for a 44-42 Jazz lead.

In 16 minutes in the first half, Favors had seven points and seven rebounds, with a pair of blocks.

While Favors was 3 of 7 shooting in the fourth, Utah's other budding star struggled down the stretch.

Burks was just 1 of 6 in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 points.

A stark contrast to Parker.

"The experience showed tonight," Corbin said. "They know exactly what to do... They make adjustments and we didn't get the energy and sense of urgency when we needed it."

NOTES: Jazz Hall of Famers Jerry Sloan and John Stockton were in attendance. ... The Spurs shot 60 percent and outscored Utah 18-2 in the paint in the first quarter (50-28 overall). ... The Jazz made 8 of 16 free throws in the first half, with Millsap and Favors both missing three. ... Manu Ginobili had six assists in the first half and finished with 10, but scored just six points. ... Duncan, Parker and Ginobili have played 125 playoff games as teammates - the most among any active trio in the NBA.

Notebook: Spurs 102, Jazz 90

Posted Sunday May 6, 2012 2:07AM

By Andrew Aragon, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Tony Parker took a little break from dominating the Utah Jazz in the San Antonio Spurs' first-round Western Conference playoff series. He was mostly quiet in the first three quarters, but when it was time to put the game away, he was back to causing nightmares for the eighth-seeded Jazz.

Parker scored 16 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help lift the Spurs to a 102-90 victory over Utah in Game 3 of their first-round series on Saturday night. San Antonio leads the series 3-0, and Game 4 is Monday night in Salt Lake City.

The Spurs had to work a little harder after beating the Jazz by 15 in Game 1 and 31 in Game 2. They only led by two points at halftime before taking control in the second half. Tim Duncan had 17 points and six rebounds, while Danny Green had 14 points and six boards.

For the Jazz, Al Jefferson had 21 points, mostly on jump shots, and 11 rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "I think we just try to limit everything they do well. We know they're good in transition. We know they're going to crash the boards and go hard to the offensive boards. We try to make sure we control all the stuff that makes them good. I think in the first half we didn't control that."
-- Parker on San Antonio's adjustments after halftime

THE STAT: The Jazz's size figured to be an advantage in this series, but that hasn't been the case. Not even close. The Spurs dominated near the basket in Game 3, holding a 50-28 edge in points in the paint. Extra passes to free up players in the lane and fast-break points were keys for San Antonio. The Spurs have scored at least 50 points in the paint in each game of the series.

TURNING POINT: The Spurs seemingly flipped a switch midway through the third quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Green and Stephen Jackson put the Spurs up 66-60. It was a lead San Antonio wouldn't relinquish, and the 3-pointers seemed to demoralize the Jazz. Utah missed nine of 11 field-goal attempts and committed four turnovers in a little less than seven minutes in the third quarter. San Antonio built a 75-65 lead while the Jazz struggled.

HOT: Parker didn't miss anything in the fourth quarter. He shot 5-for-5 from the field and 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. He was 10-for-17 for the game. Jackson had a nice game off the bench with three 3-pointers and 13 points. Devin Harris broke out of his playoff funk and had 21 points and five assists. He had 12 points and three assists combined in the first two games of the series.

NOT: The Jazz would have gone into halftime with a lead if they had shot the ball better from the free-throw line. They were 8-for-16 in the first half and 14-for-26 for the game. Gordon Hayward played well defensively for Utah, but shot a miserable 1-for-10. Paul Millsap shot just 4-for-12.

GOOD MOVE: Hayward helped at least postpone Parker's brilliance. He played great defense on Parker and kept him away from the basket with his 6-inch height advantage. Of course, that changed in the fourth quarter.

BAD MOVE: Utah coach Tyrone Corbin waited too long in the second half to play his most effective lineup. The Jazz five of Harris, Hayward, Millsap, Derrick Favors and Jefferson finally played at the same time with 5:19 left in the game. By then, San Antonio led 90-78.

QUOTABLE II: "We stopped fouling. They never got in the bonus in the third and fourth quarter. That's probably the biggest adjustment that we made. We're usually a non-fouling team compared to other teams. Tonight, in the first half, we were just awful."
-- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich on what his team improved on after halftime.

ROOKIE WATCH: Kawhi Leonard started for the Spurs, but only played 15 minutes. He had two points and three rebounds. Alec Burks gave the Jazz a lift in the first half with seven points on 3-for-3 shooting. He didn't play as well in the second half, however, and finished with 11 points.

QUOTABLE III: "We can take the fact that we're still alive. We still got another game. We still have another chance."
-- Jazz guard Hayward on taking something positive out of the Game 3 loss.

NOTABLE: Manu Ginobili, who had 10 assists in Game 3, is averaging just 5.6 points in the series. ... Duncan, Parker and Ginobili have now played 125 playoff games as teammates. ... Favors had his first career playoff double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

UP NEXT: Game 4 Monday at 8 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City.

• Spurs: Byars, Joseph
• Jazz: Miles, Watson

• Spurs: --
• Jazz: --

• Lead Changes: 12
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #19 James Capers, #40 Leon Wood
• Attendance: 19911
• Duration: 2:18