Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- As the Jazz gave up six turnovers and shot just 31.3 percent in the second quarter of Game 4 Monday night in Salt Lake City, they built what would prove to be an insurmountable 17-point deficit, leading to their 111-96 defeat to the Lakers and their first playoff sweep in franchise history.
"I hate losing like this. We got swept. That doesn't sound appealing in any way," rookie Wesley Matthews said. "No matter how hard we fought, no matter how many times we were in the game, we lost four straight times and two times on our own court. It's a bad taste in your mouth."
It looked as though the Jazz could be on their way to a good night in the first quarter as they held their own against another of the league's best teams, but the second quarter wouldn't go as smoothly. Nearly every defensive breakdown and misfired pass was capitalized on by the Lakers, allowing Utah's visiting nemesis to pool the momentum that ended up drowning the Jazz on their home court in the second quarter.
Utah was facing a five-point deficit at the end of the first quarter but quickly found themselves down by 13 as the Lakers opened their running offense on the Jazz after the break. The Lakers' run was headed by their bench, and with Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer on the pine for Utah's normal rotation, the Jazz gave up a few critical minutes that swung the fire of the game completely into the possession of Los Angeles.
"Guys had to try to do a lot of things one-on-one because of us not running our sets," Miles said.
"We just broke down. We missed shots, they made some shots; we kinda stood around a lot offensively and ended up having to take long shots," C.J. Miles said. "Guys had to try to do a lot of things one-on-one because of us not running our sets. Long shots led to long rebounds which led to them getting fast breaks. The game just opened up."
Paul Millsap was Utah's leading scorer in the second quarter with six points while Pau Gasol posted seven for the Lakers in a well-spread attack. The Jazz were outscored by 12 in the quarter, and although they managed to make a small run before the half and cut Los Angeles' once 22-point lead to 17, the climb was just a small step from the base of an enormous playoff mountain.
"We caught ourselves not making basketball plays out there, which is real simple," Millsap said. "We really gotta get better at just learning the game more."
"We caught ourselves not making basketball plays out there, which is real simple," Millsap said.
The beginning of the third quarter was witness to a different and tougher Jazz team that played as though they really did have everything to lose. Miles came out of the tunnel and quickly racked up nine points, restoring a strong fight in the struggling Jazz. With Miles' help, Utah continued taking shears to the Lakers' lead and trimmed it to as little as five on a 20-9 run.
"We did a good job of trying to get back into it. Next thing you know, they were shooting free throws and we weren't. Next thing you know, it was a big lead for them and we were playing from behind again," Carlos Boozer said.
The Lakers responded to Utah's run and built up another 22-point advantage in the fourth quarter as they powered inside and limited the Jazz to a single shot attempt on the majority of their trips down the floor, preventing a return to the City of Angels for Game 5.
"I was disappointed with our effort. I didn't play my best game; our team didn't play our best game of the series. I expected us to win tonight and take it back to L.A., but we didn't get it done," Boozer said. "We got beat by a better team."
