Utah Jazz: Team needs someone — anyone — to step up

Trevor Ariza has stepped up for the Lakers in the first two games of their Western Conference first-round playoff series with the Jazz. So has Shannon Brown.

Ariza, a career 29.9 percent 3-point shooter, made three shots from beyond the arc in the Lakers' 119-109 win over the Jazz in Game 2, including one that gave L.A. a 116-108 lead with 33 seconds left in the game.

Brown, a career 32.6 percent 3-point shooter, has made 5-of-6 3-point attempts in the first two games, including one in Game 2 that gave the Lakers a commanding 89-78 advantage late in the third quarter.

"That's the playoffs," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "The guys who will beat you are the guys you don't expect to."

With the series shifting to Utah tonight, the Jazz would undoubtedly be lifted by a player, or players, who can put forth an effort similar to what Ariza and Brown did in Los Angeles. Just like the Lakers know what they're going to get from Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, the Jazz know what they'll get offensively from Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams.

Can a Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, Andrei Kirilenko, C.J. Miles, Paul Millsap or Matt Harpring provide a scoring spark on the Jazz's home court in an important Game 3 tonight?

"That would be ideal, for sure," Korver said. "I don't think it's necessary for us to win, but we definitely would like that."

The Jazz didn't seem all that concerned about finding one player to provide a spark prior to their practice on Wednesday. They say getting over the hump against the Lakers, and putting together a more solid effort on offense, is a team-wide challenge.

"Basketball is a five-man game; you can't change everything with one player," said Kirilenko. "It doesn't matter who — somebody can step up and have a great game and it's great. But again, it's a five-man game. It's not that we really need (one player) to step up and make points. We should just play like a team and follow our routine and be focused through our entire offense."

Williams, Boozer and Millsap were the only Jazz players to reach double figures in scoring in Game 1. Each of them duplicated the feat in Game 2 with Korver (14 points), Brewer (12 points) and Kirilenko (10 points) also scoring in double digits.

Perhaps the bigger issue for the Jazz than finding a player to complement the scoring of Williams and Boozer is for someone to make shots at key moments. In Game 1, Utah consistently trailed by nine and couldn't get closer. In Game 2 on Tuesday, the Jazz's magic — or dreaded — number was six.

"We got a lot of guys who can step up and play big for us," Brewer said. "C.J. Miles is coming off a hand injury. A.K. (Kirilenko) is a candidate. He can step in and shoot. Matt Harpring can have big nights. A lot of guys on this team can step up and be effective."

Sloan said the Lakers have had a lot to do with his team being unable to make clutch shots.

"They're doing a good job defending against us," he said. "They're big and long and hard to get inside against, and when we've been inside we haven't always finished near the basket. We just have to stay with what we do and see what happens."

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