Right at home: Jazz players make plays, make themselves believers

They made superhuman Tim Duncan look like a mere mortal. They kept Tony Parker from making the lane his personal penthouse. They even kept San Antonio's bombs-away shooters from making much more than the occasional strike here and there.

What really made the difference in Utah's 109-83 NBA Western Conference finals Game 3 victory over the Spurs at sold-out EnergySolutions Arena, however, was what the Jazz made of themselves.

Believers, that is.

"We just needed this one game, just one game to get our confidence back," point guard Deron Williams said after the Jazz, now 7-0 at home in the playoffs this postseason, trimmed San Antonio's lead in the best-of-seven series to 2-1. "One game of playing great basketball for 48 minutes.

"I think we did that," Williams added, after leading the way with a game-high five steals and game-high eight assists to go with his game-high 31 points that came on 10-of-19 shooting from the field, including an efficient 4-of-5 from 3-point range. "We went out and executed well, defended well, for a full 48 minutes. Not 28 minutes, 32 minutes. For the full 48, and that's why we won."

That, and a 27-point, 12-rebound double-double from power forward Carlos Boozer.

And 38 points from a previously quiet bench, including 11 on 4-of-8 shooting by shooting guard Gordan Giricek.

And 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting from guard Derek Fisher, who came into Game 3 having hit just 2-of-16 from the field in the series' first two games.

"It was a really good effort from our entire team," Fisher said. "I think that's the difference. When we have contributions from four, five, six guys, we're a much better team."

Especially when it happens on both ends of the floor.

That came Saturday in the form of heretofore-unseen-in-the-series defense by center Mehmet Okur and backup Jarron Collins on two-time NBA MVP Duncan, who scored a personal series-low 16 points — and was charged with as many miscues as he had rebounds.

"The guys who were guarding Duncan really made him work hard," Fisher said.

"Mehmet did a great job on Timmy," Boozer added with regard to Duncan, who was plagued throughout the game by foul trouble that he did not experience in Games 1 and 2 — and wound up playing only 26 minutes. "Timmy had eight turnovers — that was a big key."