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Turning on the playoff switch
They haven't made any significant defensive adjustments, altered their substitution patterns or signed any free agents since they ended the regular season playing defense like matadors.
But yes, these are the same Utah Jazz that allowed an average of 116 points in losses to Sacramento, Seattle, Golden State, Denver and Phoenix earlier this month.
The Jazz have done what they and their fans had hoped for in the playoffs - seemingly flipped a switch on defense. Utah has held Houston to 36 percent shooting in three playoff games. The Jazz harassed the Rockets into shooting 33 percent from the field in Game 3, and held them to just 25 points in the second half.
Several factors have helped Utah become more effective defensively. Most notably, after clinching the Northwest Division title with 10 games still left to play in the regular season, the Jazz may have simply just lost their edge.
"The regular season, it's a totally different game," said Utah forward Matt Harpring. "This is the playoffs. These games mean stuff. Not to say the regular season doesn't, but we're playing - this is do-or-die. This is it."
Seems simple. And Jazz guard Deron Williams said it didn't take long for the Jazz to learn from their first two playoff losses.
"I just think the main thing was that we realized in Game 1 and Game 2, we lost because our defense wasn't there in the third and fourth quarter," Williams said. "And this time [Game 3] it was."
The Jazz also have been boosted by the return to the lineup of Andrei Kirilenko and Gordan Giricek. Both missed games with injuries late in the regular season. Kirilenko did an adequate job on Houston guard Tracy McGrady, helping to hold him to just eight points in the second half in Game 3. Giricek isn't a defensive stopper, but he gives coach Jerry Sloan another body to run in and out of the lineup.
"When we were playing halfway decent, they helped us win a lot of games because they played hard," Sloan said. "That gives us a little help, gives us another guy who we can throw on the floor so we don't have to play [other players] so many minutes."
Familiarity with what the Rockets are doing is also big.
Utah and Houston played each other in three meaningful games in the regular season. With three playoff games under their belt, the Jazz are well-versed with what the Rockets are hoping to do on offense.
"Each game, we definitely have gotten a better understanding of what they're trying to do and where they're trying to attack us," said Jazz guard Derek Fisher. "It happens in every series with every team. After a couple, two or three games, there are no secrets about what offense you're going to run, what plays you're going to run, who's going to have the ball, where they're going to have the ball. It's just, which team can take away the other team's stuff the most?"