SEATTLE — No one with the Jazz seemed shocked that the Sonics played so well in Game 3, their first at KeyArena after two at the Delta Center in this best-of-five, opening-round NBA Western Conference playoff series.
"In the first two games, we did anything we wanted," Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek said. "You don't expect that in a playoff game. (Saturday) was more what you expect."
A small part of the reason that the Sonics rebounded may be related to the fact they were back at home.
"This is how it is in basketball," Jazz center Olden Polynice said. "These guys come back home, and in front of their fans they didn't want to be swept. You know, it's hard to win on the road sometimes."
WELCOME TO THE NBA: Sonics coach Paul Westphal was so grouchy Saturday, it sounded as if he was the losing coach.
Perhaps that is because Westphal and his club are under intense media scrutiny in Seattle. Some are calling for Westphal to be fired, and many are calling the Sonics Team Turmoil because so many things went wrong for them late in the regular season and early in this series.
"This week was no fun," Westphal said. "We're in the middle of a fight, and we have to deal with all of this other stuff. But I guess that's part of it in the NBA."
HE'S BACK: In Game 2 of the series, Seattle forward Ruben Patterson did not play at all in the opening half as Westphal toyed with his primary rotation.
"I don't know why," said Jazz forward Bryon Russell, one of the Utah defenders who had a tough time dealing with Patterson as he came off the bench to score 13 in Game 3.
Patterson, who griped loudly about his role in Game 3, tried to put his performance Saturday in perspective by suggesting it was no big deal.
"I'm just going to go out there and play hard," he said, "and that's what I did. Everybody who has seen me play for the whole year knows what I can do for the team."
ON THE MEND: Sonics owner Barry Ackerley did not attend Saturday's game.
He had a good excuse.
Ackerkey is hospitalized while undergoing a routine in-patient cardiology procedure. His condition, according to a release, is not life-threatening. In 1991, he underwent quintuple heart bypass surgery.
DRAFT PICKS: Position for the NBA's Draft lottery and order of selection for the rest of the June 28 NBA draft has been set, and the Jazz are set to pick both 23rd, with a selection that originally belonged to the Miami Heat, and 28th, with their own selection. Utah also has one second-round selection: 50th overall, a pick acquired from the New York Knicks. The last-place Los Angeles Clippers have the highest probability of winning the draft lottery, in which picks originally belonging to the 13 teams not qualifying for the playoffs will be sorted by weighted-but-random selection.
HISTORY REVISITED? This is the fifth time in Jazz history that they have led a first-round, best-of-five series 2-0. All four times, the series has gone all five games.