Lakers Get New Life

Quiet came to the Utah Jazz this time, its big guns silent. Not like the cold shoulder the Lakers offered with the blanket “no comment” two nights earlier. Just cold, period.

The Jazz shot 9.1% in the first quarter and 13.6% in the half and never recovered. The Lakers, on the other hand, did, going from the heartbreaking Game 2 loss in Salt Lake City to a 104-84 victory before 17,505 at the Forum on Thursday night to cut their deficit in the Western Conference semifinals to 2-1.

The only thing more improbable than a 20-point loss for a team that came in having won 24 of its last 25 games--a span of about seven weeks in which the only defeat was a two-pointer to the Lakers--was how it happened. With Shaquille O’Neal missing for all but 18 minutes, first because of foul trouble and then because of the double-technical ejection with 7:36 remaining. With Utah center Greg Ostertag missing all but 14 minutes, ultimately because of a sprained left knee that knocked him out for good with 4:30 to play in the third quarter.

With Karl Malone missing.

And missing.

And missing.

That was the most amazing sight of all, the MVP candidate going two of 20 from the field, though making 11 of 12 free throws allowed him to at least finish with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

“It was strange,” Malone said. “A couple shots looked good to me, and then rolled out. I probably had one of these games nine years ago. Maybe as a rookie.

“One in nine years. That means I won’t be around for another one.”

The memory of this one will last long enough, for all of the Jazz. The only real success, other than the 26 points from Jeff Hornacek, was that it was able to avoid a nose dive into the record books, finishing at 28.8% to avoid the NBA’s all-time playoff low of 23.3% and making 23 baskets, two better than the mark.

The first half was not simply a display of poor shooting by the Jazz. It was a display of poor shooting by the team that finished No. 1 in the league in field-goal percentage, by a wide margin, at that, and was the only club to break 50%. John Stockton wasn’t just No. 7 among individuals, wasn’t just No. 1 among all guards, he was the only backcourt player inthe top 21. Malone was No. 6 overall.

These were also the same players who went 50.8% two nights earlier and came in at 48.2% in the playoffs, second only to the New York Knicks. Then again, maybe they weren’t.

Malone missed his first three attempts, all from the perimeter, then made a 12-foot fall-away from the left side with 6:29 remaining. The specifics are important because of what came next.

Nine consecutive misses.

Inside. Outside. Everywhere. Every time.

At least he was making free throws--nine of 10 in the first half, enabling Malone to make some offensive contribution, albeit an ugly one, with 11 points. Even while missing 12 of 13 attempts, Malone still led all scorers.

Bryon Russell was Utah’s hot hand. He was two of seven. Hornacek was one of five, good enough to star in that backcourt considering Stockton had missed all five tries while adding only one assist.

Having bottomed out in everything from shooting to fewest assists, the Jazz set six franchise playoff records for a quarter and for a half by the time intermission came. The Lakers capitalized enough to build a 17-point lead with 3 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter, eventually taking a 49-36 cushion into the locker room despite foul troubles that limited O’Neal to 10 minutes and Elden Campbell to 15.

Otherwise playing well after making only 16 of 41 shots the first two games of the series, O’Neal managed only three more in the third quarter after getting his fourth personal just 2:30 in. That’s when the Jazz rallied behind the hot shooting--no, seriously--of Hornacek, going from 52-37 down to 63-53 with 4:30 showing as the veteran guard made eight consecutive baskets.

That’s as good as it got for the Jazz, though, soon to fall behind by 15 by the end of the third quarter, then 26 when O’Neal was ejected for what official Bill Oakes called two “unsportsmanlike acts.” O’Neal insisted he did nothing more flagrant than gesture for a foul to be called after his basket with 7:36 left.

“I can make a comment if I want,” he said after being kicked out for the first time as a Laker. “But the main thing to focus in on is that we won the game.”

Just not without a possible cost. Byron Scott took a hard fall after driving to the basket and suffered what for the moment was being called a sprained right hand and wrist. The decision to send him for X-rays after the game, the results of which will be released today, was more out of concern than precaution.

Ostertag will be checked by the Jazz doctor today. His status for Game 4 at the Forum on Saturday was not immediately known, but preliminary indications were that he was not seriously injured.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NBA PLAYOFFS

LAKERS vs. JAZZ

Jazz leads series, 2-1

* Game 1: Jazz, 93-77

* Game 2: Jazz, 103-101

* Game 3: Lakers, 104-84

* Saturday: at Forum, 12:30 p.m.

* Monday: at Utah, 7:30 p.m.

* Wednesday: at Forum, TBA-x

* May 17: at Utah, TBA-x

x-if necessary

* MAIL STOP

Karl Malone and the Jazz got a crash course in defense from Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones. C12

* YOU MAKE THE CALL

The question is, will Nick Van Exel, a rogue in many a referee’s eyes, ever have the big call go his way? C12

* GAME IN REVIEW: C12

* BOX SCORE: C12

* Atlanta 103, Chicago 95

The Hawks became the first visiting team in two years to win a playoff game at United Center, evening the series, 1-1. C11

* PLAYOFF BRACKET: C11