Utah Jazz fall into 0-3 hole against Lakers with last-gasp loss

SALT LAKE CITY — They got a shot from Deron Williams they could live with at the end, and even got a follow tip by Wesley Matthews they weren't necessarily expecting.

But one bounced up, another bounced the wrong direction and neither bounced in — leaving the Jazz in need of rewriting history if they are to bounce back and beat the Los Angeles Lakers and advance to the NBA's Western Conference Finals.

That's because the Lakers turned back Utah 111-110 in Game 3 of their second-round matchup on Saturday night at sold-out EnergySolutions Arena, giving L.A. a 3-0 advantage no team has been able to overcome in 88 previous best-of-seven NBA postseason series.

"It's hard to accept that, man," power forward Carlos Boozer said of things not falling the Jazz's way. "You know, I thought we played well enough to win the game.

"A couple of bounces here, a couple of bounces there, and we do."

Even after losing their 11th playoff game among 14 against the defending NBA champion Lakers since 2008, though, the Jazz felt as confident as they could about being able to avoid being swept for the first time in the postseason since losing a best-of-five series to Golden State in 1989 and the first time in franchise history in a best-of-seven series.

"I said this was a must-win for us, because I think it's gonna be tough to beat this team four times," said Williams, whose 28 points were a team-high on a night Kyle Korver scored 23 off the bench and Boozer had a 14-point, 14-rebound double — but no one else scored more than Paul Millsap's 13 for Utah. "But, you know, we're not gonna just give up on the season."

"We just have to keep it going, keep it going, keep fighting," Matthews added, "and hopefully a little luck will be on our side."

It certainly wasn't Saturday, when Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 35 points (his third 30-plus-point game this series), Ron Artest and Derek Fisher added 20 points apiece and Paul Gasol had a 14-point, 17-rebound double-double for the West's No. 1 seed Lakers.

The Jazz led by five points midway through the fourth quarter, by four with just under two minutes to go and by two after Williams drained an 18-footer with 42.3 seconds remaining.