Carlos Boozer and his All-Star caliber game had gone missing through most of the 2008 NBA playoffs.

Boozer said he didn't sleep after Tuesday's Game 2 loss in Los Angeles, where he scored just 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting.

"It's tough," he said. "I take a lot of responsibility to lead this team and to bounce back this way means a lot to me."

The 6-foot-9 power forward rattled home 27 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead the Utah Jazz to a 104-99 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Friday, ending L.A.'s six-game playoff winning streak. The Lakers still lead the series with Utah, 2-1.

"I just tried to stop thinking so much," Boozer said. "I was playing loose and thought free. I was trying to play with more passion and stay out of foul trouble."

Boozer scored only eight points in the first half but found his form in the second, pouring in 19. He scored 10 in the fourth quarter, including a pair of rebound baskets off his own misses. After L.A. cut the Utah lead to three (95-92) with 3:22 to play, Boozer scored on three straight possessions, including one soft, arching jumper that beat the shot clock.

"We made an adjustment," Boozer said. "We put everyone on the weak side and let Deron (Williams) and me do what we do."

Boozer finished 12-of-21 from the field and the 20 rebounds tied a career playoff high. It was only Boozer's second 20-point scoring game of the postseason.

"We kind of expected him to come out and have a monster performance," Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant said. "When he and Deron did the screen-and-roll down the stretch that caused us some problems."

Boozer would like nothing better than to continue his hot play in Game 4 on Sunday.

"It hasn't just been this series, it was the first round, too," he said of his struggles. "It was more like eight games for me. I look forward to moving on and just having fun. Basketball is a fun game and I just want to enjoy it."

• Pau-ting: Boozer got his offense going with a strong defensive effort on Lakers center Pau Gasol. Boozer caused several turnovers with his active play and threw Gasol off his game. Gasol finished with just 12 points and six rebounds with five turnovers.

"Pau's a very talented player," Boozer said. "I thought a key was I went out and tried to be aggressive defensively and move my feet, get some steals."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson saw how frustrated Gasol became, especially in the first half.

"Pau was looking at the referee every time he was stripped of the ball in the first half," Jackson said. "Boozer and (Mehmet) Okur got help from their teammates (on Gasol) and that was effective. Our early turnovers changed the course of the game."

• Sigh of relief: Williams took a hard spill on a layup attempt at the end of the first half. It was diagnosed as a wrist contusion and x-rays were negative. Williams finished with 18 points and 12 assists.

• One last word: When reporters didn't ask many questions in the post-game news conference, Jackson left the room and commented, "Curious bunch."

• Price-less: Former UVSC standout Ronnie Price has seen his playing time at backup point guard diminish during the playoffs but still made his presence felt in Game 3.

Price subbed for Williams to begin the second quarter with the score tied at 23. He didn't score but made three hustle plays to get the Jazz going on an 11-4 run to open the quarter. Price assisted on a basket by Matt Harpring, then stole the ball and made a pass while sitting on the floor to Harpring for a dunk. Another diving scramble by Price for the ball went out of bounds.

• Going on a run: After trailing 11-3 early in the game, Utah went on an 8-0 run in the first quarter to pull even. In the second quarter, Mehmet Okur scored five points to key a 9-2 blitz, getting Utah out to a 49-36 lead, its largest.

• Getting ahead: A 3-pointer by Kyle Korver in the second quarter gave Utah a 30-25 advantage, its largest lead (five points) in any game in the series to that point.

• MVP: Kobe Bryant couldn't lead the Lakers to their seventh straight playoff win but put on a show anyway. He scored 34 points (26 in the second half), but two plays stood out in the second half. He sprinted down the lane and swooped in for a windmill dunk over Andrei Kirilenko to cut the Utah lead to 65-57 in the third quarter. In the fourth, Bryant took an off-balance jumper that caught only backboard but flew in and dunked the ball off the rebound all in one motion.

"I tried to draw a foul on Kirilenko, but I just said, 'What the hell?' and decided to throw it off the glass and go get it. I don't know if they gave me an assist on that."

• The gift that keeps on giving: At one point in the second quarter, the Lakers had nine turnovers and the Jazz had scored 14 points off of those miscues.

"We had a lot of open looks," Bryant said. "They just didn't go for us. But you can sustain nights like that if you're not turning the ball over. The thing that hurt us was transition points. They got out and got a lot of easy baskets. Turnovers, that's stuff we can control. We'll tighten up (for Game 4)."

Los Angeles finished with 18 turnovers.

• Make your plans: Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday at Energy Solutions Arena. The game will be played at 1:30 p.m. and will be televised on ABC.

• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it