Lakers win in a three-point stance

Reporting from Salt Lake City -- Ron Artest was shooting corner three-point attempts, and actually making them.

Derek Fisher was booed by people who hadn’t forgotten his departure, and it didn’t bother him.

The Lakers couldn’t win Game 3s in Utah, but that ended Saturday in front of a deflated Jazz crowd, thanks primarily to 20 points from Fisher, another 20 from Artest, and, like that, the Lakers owned a 3-0 series lead after a 111-110 victory at EnergySolutions Arena.

No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series. Game 4 is Monday in Salt Lake City.

Kobe Bryant was more than solid, finishing with 35 points and seven assists in almost 44 minutes, but the victory started with a new-and-improved Artest on offense and was bookended by Fisher’s clutch three-pointer, another one for him to remember whenever his playing days end.

The Lakers, who have won five games in a row, were stuck in a fight with a Utah team that had beaten them here in Game 3s the last two playoff seasons, and the game ended in a flurry, Deron Williams missing a long two-point attempt from the top, Wesley Matthews missing a tip-in at the buzzer. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak congratulated each Lakers player as they went to the locker room.

This was a big one, in many ways, a revelation that the defending champions didn’t want to be pulled back into another tight series (think Oklahoma City, first round).

The Lakers now seem to be on a collision course with the Phoenix Suns, who have a 3-0 lead in their West semifinal against San Antonio.

Not that anybody chose to peek that far ahead ... yet.

Instead, the focal points were on Artest and Fisher.

“Unexpected guys stepped up tonight,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

Artest entered the night shooting 16.7% from three-point range in the playoffs, but he made four of seven from long distance, all four coming in a second half in which he scored 18 points.

It had been a bizarre couple of days for him, lashing out at Jackson on his Twitter feed and feeling the heat for his not-so-torrid three-point percentage.

“Kobe and the fellas, they continue to give me confidence, just to move on and play the next game,” Artest said.

Fisher’s mark on the game came on a three-pointer with 28.6 seconds left, giving the Lakers the lead for good, 109-108.

He was continually booed by Jazz fans who still feel he abandoned them by asking out of his contract two years ago and rejoining the Lakers.

“He played a great game tonight,” Jackson said. “Just his tenacity is a factor for us.”

And yet, the Jazz still had a chance, buoyed by 23 points from reserve sharpshooter Kyle Korver, who ended up with the ball in his hands on an errant Lakers’ inbounds play from the side with 4.4 seconds left.

Neither Willams nor Matthews could convert in the final seconds, and the Lakers won for the 21st time in their last 27 games against the Jazz.

“We’ve got our backs to the wall,” said Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan, quickly correcting himself. “We had our backs against the wall with these guys to begin with because they’re a great team.”

The Lakers trailed at halftime, 54-50, but Bryant looked vibrant and healthy, scoring 20 points on nine-for-14 shooting.

The halftime deficit could have been worse for the Lakers after they trailed by 13 in the second quarter, but they were the ones making a second-half comeback this time, flipping the tables on the Jazz after Utah did it each of the first two games.

They have one more game for sure in Utah. Their next road game after that might be in Phoenix.

“I’m not worried about it,” Bryant said. “I’m just thinking about the next game.”

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

twitter.com/Mike_Bresnahan

Buy Lakers playoff tickets here

---

Clicking on Green Links will take you to a third-party e-commerce site. These sites are not operated by the Los Angeles Times. The Times Editorial staff is not involved in any way with Green Links or with these third-party sites.

---