Utah at LA Lakers, 12:30 pm
Western Conference semifinals
Game One
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Utah Jazz didn't have much time to enjoy their opening-round victory. The fourth-seeded Jazz visit the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday in Game One of their Western Conference semifinals series.
Utah needed six games to get past the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets during the first round, closing out the best-of-seven series with a decisive 113-91 victory Friday. Deron Williams scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half, burying a slew of 3-pointers in the third quarter to put the Rockets on ice. Williams averaged 20.0 points and 8.5 assists in the opening round, and teammate Carlos Boozer praised his point guard for his role in the series. "He put us on his back - the whole series, really, especially offensively," said Boozer, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds in Game Six. "He did a great job of knocking down shots in the third quarter (on Friday) to get us going."
Meanwhile, the Lakers had no trouble against the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets in the first round, cruising to a four-game sweep. Kobe Bryant, who is expected to earn his first career MVP award next week, was unstoppable against the Nuggets, averaging 33.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists and exploding for 49 points in Game Three. Trade deadline acquisition Pau Gasol also had a strong series against defensively-challenged Denver, posting a pair of double-doubles in Games One and Two and finishing the series with averages of 22.0 points and 9.0 rebounds.
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