"You try to stay in front in him, don't let him get easy baskets, don't let him get dunks," Almond said. "That gets him fired up."

"He's very efficient going to the basket, so we were trying to jump out and go under the screen. But they made adjustments and they were coming up with up-screens, and it allowed him to get to the basket," added Brewer, who spent much of the night on James. "And then he started knocking down jumpers and making 3s, and when a guy's as talented as he is it's very hard to try to contain him when he's knocking down shots and getting to the basket."

James' ability to get away with whatever he wanted proved especially frustrating for All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer, whose 17 points made him the Jazz's top scorer for a sixth straight game.

"We've got to run a couple different defenses at a guy like LeBron when he gets hot — maybe double to get the ball out of hand, do something different," he said.

"Fourth quarter, he just hit shot after shot after shot," Boozer added. "He made his free throws, hit his jump shots. And when he hits his jump shot, he's tough to stop."

Especially, it was suggested to Sloan, when Jazz defenders back down a bit.

"A little bit? It was like we were afraid to even touch him," Sloan said. "I think we fouled him once going to the basket. ... That's just part of basketball. But if you have that much respect, and are afraid of him, then you can't play against him."

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