Jazz shuffle lineup in effort to avoid sweep vs. Spurs

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The Utah Jazz try to snap a seven-game postseason losing streak Monday night, when they face San Antonio in Game 4 of a lopsided first-round playoff series at EnergySoltuions Arena.

The game, which starts at 6 p.m., will be aired on TNT.

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San Antonio has won the first three games of the series by an average margin of 19.3 points. With another victory, the Spurs will advance to face the Memphis-Los Angeles Clippers winner in the Western Conference semifinals.

The Jazz haven't won in the playoffs since eliminating Denver in Game 6 of a first-round series in 2010. After beating the Nuggets, however, Utah was swept in the second round by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said at the morning shootaround he plans to change his starting lineup for Game 4.

Center Al Jefferson, shooting guard Gordon Hayward and point guard Devin Harris will continue to start, but Derrick Favors moves in at power forward and Paul Millsap slides to small forward. Josh Howard will come off the bench.

Corbin hopes his bigger lineup will create matchup problems for the Spurs and improve Utah's defense. The Spurs have scored 28, 28 and 30 points in the first quarter during this series.

The Jazz were blown out in the first two games at San Antonio. They played better in Game 3, but the Spurs pulled away in the third quarter and spoiled the night for the capacity crowd of 19,911.

"I thought we played better," Corbin said. "I thought we played harder. We made some mistakes, but I thought the energy was better than the two games down in San Antonio. Good team, though. We can't afford to have any lapses."

Point guard Tony Parker has been the leader for the Spurs who, going back to the regular season, have won 24 of their last 26 games.

Parker averages 24.3 points and 7.7 assists in only 30.9 minutes per game in the playoffs.

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