No matter how much confidence he tried to maintain, no matter how many times he vowed to stay aggressive and wait for his shots to start falling, Carlos Boozer couldn't help but offer clues as to the toll his playoff slump was taking.
There was the morning he arrived at the Jazz practice facility 90 minutes early after missing five free throws in a loss to Houston. There was the night he couldn't fall asleep until 6 a.m. replaying the three fouls he picked up in the first half against the Los Angeles Lakers.
It took nine games, but Boozer finally broke through in the Jazz's 104-99 victory Friday night over the Lakers in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals, finishing with 27 points and 20 rebounds and delivering the game's three biggest baskets.
With the Lakers having closed to 95-92 with 3:22 left, the Jazz came out of a timeout and went to Boozer on three consecutive possessions off the pick-and-roll with Deron Williams. Their All-Star forward came through each time.
Boozer tossed in a 6-foot hook in the lane, beat the shot clock with an 11-footer over Lamar Odom and hit a 15-footer as the Jazz pushed their lead back to 101-92 and held on from there in trimming the Lakers' series lead to 2-1.
"For me, it was a great night," said Boozer, who had gone 16 gameswithout topping his season scoring average of 21.1 points. "I'm looking forward to building off of this game and continue to play with confidence and be aggressive and just have fun.
"One of the biggest things about basketball is trying to remember it's a fun game. That's what I'm trying to get back to. Just enjoy the game."
It was Boozer's biggest game since he totaled 34 points and 17 rebounds in the Jazz's March 28 victory over the L.A. Clippers. He scored 11 of the Jazz's 25 points in the fourth quarter and could have had even more had he not missed two late free throws.
"You could sense that he wanted the ball," Williams said. "He'd been hitting his shots all night, so we kept feeding him. They couldn't find an answer for the play we were running . . . so we were going to keep feeding him and letting him work."
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 34 points, 26 in the second half, while Mehmet Okur had 22 points for the Jazz. Williams added 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Jazz were able to build a 13-point lead in the second quarter that they didn't relinquish.
The Jazz improved to 40-5 at home this season and will host the Lakers in Game 4 on Sunday. Williams said the goal now was to make this a three-game series.
"It just gives us a lot of confidence," Williams said. "We got that first one. Now we know we can beat this team. We felt all along we could beat this team, but now we know. We've just got to put together another solid victory next game."
The Jazz nearly gave the game away in the last 4 1-2 minutes, coughing up the ball on three consecutive possessions. Those turned into five points for the Lakers on two Luke Walton free throws, a Bryant layup on the fast break and a Derek Fisher free throw.
The Jazz were able to weather the storm as Bryant scored 10 straight points for the Lakers in the third quarter. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was called for a technical by referee Monty McCutchen after arguing that Bryant hooked Ronnie Brewer on a spin move.
The Lakers got as close as 73-68 with 2:10 left in the third quarter on a Fisher three-pointer. Williams hit a jumper at the other end and slid a pass to Boozer off the pick-and-roll for a 13-footer to keep the Jazz in control.
It was a terrible night for young Lakers guards Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar, who went a combined 0-for-9, especially at the start of the fourth quarter. Vujacic committed a turnover and Farmar dribbled the ball off his foot out of bounds.
After falling behind by double digits in the first half of Games 1 and 2, the Jazz were able to build a 13-point lead in the second quarter Friday. They hit 12 of 19 shots (63.2 percent) in the quarter, which they won 29-20.
Williams injured his right wrist on a drive with 2:46 left in the first half but stayed in the game after a timeout. He drove and found Andrei Kirilenko for a layup on the first possession back to give the Jazz a 49-36 lead.
Boozer finished the first quarter with no fouls and no turnovers, both of which hurt him in this series' first two games. He drove for a three-point play on Gasol and spun back on Ronny Turiaf for a layup in the quarter.
"Everybody goes through a stage when things are tough on them, but I think he has to do the work and he certainly did tonight," Sloan said. "He stepped up to play and I thought he had some terrific moments."
