Determined big men make large contribution

Golden State's advantage over bigger teams — and at times this season over the Utah Jazz — has been its smallness, its quickness. The Warriors cause match-up problems all over the place for normal-size NBA front-liners.

But what players in Utah's 127-117 overtime victory in Game 2 of the NBA Playoffs second round at EnergySolutions Arena played the most minutes per man for the Utah Jazz and got a huge amount done?

It was the big guys.

Center Mehmet Okur, power forward Carlos Boozer and small forward/two-guard/emergency point guard Andrei Kirilenko played about 42 minutes apiece, scored a total of 72 points and dragged down a combined 40 rebounds in Utah's third straight never-say-die playoff win.

"We're determined," said Boozer of a team that was down five with less than 53 seconds left. "That's what we do. We give it everything we've got every time we're out there. In that position, we just stay confident and try to execute, we try to do a good job on defense and we basically just believe that we can come back."

Boozer came back from Game 1, in which the Warriors sagged in on him and he only had 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting to work what he called even tougher double- and triple-teams on Wednesday night for 30 points with 9-for-14 shooting, plus 13 rebounds. He had six points and three boards in the overtime.

The boards were shy of the 21 he had Monday. But his last one, with 52.9 seconds left when he helped defend Warrior Matt Barnes into missing a layup and then snagged the board, helped Utah not just hold off Golden State but add to the margin as Barnes fouled him and he made the free throws.

Utah center Okur was the game's biggest board-man with 18 , and he put in 23 points, including a much-needed 21-footer from the right corner to cut a three-point Golden State lead to 112-111 with :09.8 left in regulation play following a rebound of a Warrior free-throw miss. That made it possible for Deron Williams' runner to tie the score with two seconds left and force the overtime.

Kirilenko had a season-high 20 points plus nine rebounds, six blocked shots and five assists, fouling out after 41:17 minutes of play, the least of the three big guys.

Boozer said the Jazz big men gave up some offensive rebounds they shouldn't have in the fourth quarter but otherwise did a decent job in leading Utah to a 60-32 advantage on the glass. "Guys were crashing the boards, and it was another focus point for us. If we have more rebounds, we get more possessions, and that gives us a good chance to win."