Plenty of things have gone wrong for the Utah Jazz in their Western Conference semifinal series with the Lakers.

Most notably, the way they've started their two losses.

Several factors have forced Utah to try and dig out of large first-half deficits in its two defeats to Los Angeles. In Game 1, the Jazz scored eight points during a close to eight-minute span in the second quarter and fell behind by 17 points before halftime. In Game 2, Utah played defense like matadors early in the contest, falling behind by 15 points in the first quarter.

Coach Jerry Sloan said to blame, well, everything for Utah's poor starts.

"That's two games in a row where we've come out very soft on both ends of the floor, and that's where you're going to get yourself in trouble," he said. "We end up taking tough, bad shots where there's nobody there to rebound. They come out of there, and they get in the open court and they'll beat you with fast break-basketball."

You have to include credit for the Lakers as a reason why the Jazz had to play catch-up in the first two games. Utah just hasn't matched their intensity, Sloan said.

"They're defending the devil out of us," he said. "But the way we walked through our stuff the first two games to start the game, there's no way we can defend on the other end of the floor. We're settling for outside shots. I just got through watching (film), and it's not what I think our team is capable of."

He did see what it is capable of later in the first two games of the series.

The Jazz got within four points of the Lakers in the fourth quarter of Game 1, and within five points in the fourth quarter of Game 2. The comebacks have given Utah reason to be confident for tonight's Game 3, which will be played in front of a jacked-up home crowd.

"That's (the comebacks) the most encouraging part," said guard Deron Williams. "We started pretty bad, but we're still right in the game. We still had a chance to win."

Williams believes his team has learned its lesson from starting slow in the first two games, and that it will play with more urgency after the opening tip tonight. The Jazz got some encouraging signs from Williams in the second half of Game 2, as he went to the basket hard, and finished on several occasions. "We're at home, number one," Williams said. "We'll have the energy of the crowd on our side. We just have to make a conscious effort to get off to a better start. That basically cost us both games. We just got to come out with a lot more energy and intensity, and be able to defend them."