Utah Jazz miss another opportunity as Lakers take 2-0 series lead

LOS ANGELES — The Jazz wanted to get off to a better start.

And they did.

But it was mostly downhill from there Tuesday night at sold-out Staples Center, where the defending NBA-champion Los Angeles Lakers beat Utah 111-103 in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

"We came out, we started out the ballgame like we talked about," Jazz point guard Deron Williams said. "You know, we started out good. We started off making extra passes ... and then it's like we want to do it by ourselves.

"We can't do it like that."

The Jazz — despite being down by 15 points late in the third quarter, and 12 early in the fourth — were, though, within four with just under five minutes to go.

But L.A. outscored them 13-9 from there, giving the West's No. 1 seed Lakers a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven second-round playoff matchup that resumes Saturday night in Utah.

"We were right there," Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer said. "Unfortunately, we didn't pull it out again, but I feel like we can play better, which is encouraging."

The biggest Laker dagger was a Kobe Bryant 3-pointer that — with the help of a slow but friendly roll, one so agonizing it had actor and longtime Laker diehard Jack Nicholson wiggled fingers on both hands against his face — made it 105-96 with 2:45 left.

"I was proud of the fact that our guys fought back I the ball game," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "I thought we had a chance. They blocked a couple shots when we came down the stretch, and Kobe made the 3."

Bryant had a game-high 30 points, Pau Gasol added 22 points and 15 rebounds, Andrew Bynum contributed 17 points and a career playoff-high 14 rebounds and Ron Artest had 16 points for the Lakers, who dominated inside much of the night, winning the battle of the boards 58-40, outscoring the Jazz 64-50 in the paint and blocking a whopping 13 shots.

"We're not gonna be frustrated, we're not gonna be demoralized, we're not gonna back down, we're not gonna give up," Boozer said when asked about L.A.'s size advantage. "We're gonna keep fighting, we're gonna keep attacking, we're gonna stay aggressive.

"You know, some of those calls could have been fouls. But they weren't. Not tonight. And hopefully when we keep attacking, we'll get some more calls in Salt Lake City."