Utah Jazz: The power of 3 — Jazz cut L.A.'s series lead in half

There were no Hollywood-style stars in the crowd, unless you count a certain 17-year-old Idol who sure can belt out an anthem.

There was no foul trouble, at least not for All-Star Carlos Boozer.

There was no MVP performance from Kobe Bryant in the first half, though he sure did make things interesting in the second.

And after the Jazz were done beating the Los Angeles Lakers 104-99 Friday night in Game 3 of their NBA Western Conference playoff semifinal series, making it 2-1 L.A. in the best-of-seven affair, there was no doubt from Deron Williams about where Utah stands now.

"We got that first one," the Jazz point guard said after scoring 18 points and dishing a game-high 12 assists — despite badly bruising his right hand and wrist in the opening half. "Now we know we can beat this team."

For that, the Jazz largely have Carlos Boozer — and some ramped-up defense on Bryant — to thank.

Boozer, much-maligned prior to Friday after failing to score more than 20 points in any of the Jazz's first eight games of the 2008 postseason, had a breakout game.

The starting power forward scored a team-high 27 points, pulled down a game-high 20 rebounds and ditched the anchor that weighed him down so drastically for the first two games of the series.

"You know, anytime you get in foul trouble, especially six minutes into a game — it's tough to get your confidence back," Williams said. "You're over there thinking about why you're not in, and what you could have done better. You have to sit there for the whole half, and then try to come back and try to get your game started in the second half.

"That's definitely tough for him to do," Williams added. "But tonight he just stayed out of foul trouble, was able to be in there, played 40 minutes, which was good for us, good for him."

Bad for the Lakers were the early struggles of Bryant, who after scoring 38 and 34 in the first two series games had just eight points and 1-of-5 field-goal shooting in the first half.

Still, he made the Jazz work — and sweat a bit — after the break, finishing 10-of-20 from the floor and with a game-high 34 points.

"He didn't have a great first half, obviously, with the numbers and everything," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "But you know who he is, and know what's gonna happen the second half.