THE X FACTORS

A look at a few of the factors that made the difference in Jazz’s 96-92 victory over the Lakers.

AT THE LINE

The Lakers were the NBA’s worst free-throw shooting team (making 67% of their shots) during the regular season, and the Jazz (77%) was the best. A quarter-by-quarter look at Game 4:

FIRST

LAKERS: 4 ATT, MADE 2

JAZZ: 6 ATT, MADE 6

SECOND

LAKERS: 6 ATT, MADE 4

JAZZ: 7 ATT, MADE 6

THIRD

LAKERS: 10 ATT, MADE 8

JAZZ: 7 ATT, MADE 6

FOURTH

LAKERS: 13 ATT, MADE 8

JAZZ: 13 ATT, MADE 12

*

* GAME 4: Lakers 22 of 33 (67.7%); Jazz 30 of 33 (90.9%)

* SERIES: Lakers 96 of 156 (61.5%); Jazz 103 of 130 (79.7%)

* PLAYOFFS: Lakers 326 of 506 (64.4%); Jazz 315 of 427 (73.8%)

*

THE BIG MEN

How Laker center Shaquille O’Neal and Jazz forward Karl Malone stacked up against each other:

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL:

Game 4: 38 pts, 7 reb

Series: 31.8 pts, 9.3 reb

Playoffs: 30.5 pts, 10.2 reb

KARL MALONE:

Game 4: 32 pts, 14 reb

Series: 30 pts, 10.3 reb

Playoffs: 26.9 pts, 11 reb

THE SUPPORTING CAST

How some other key members of the Lakers and Jazz contributed:

EDDIE JONES

Jones actually showed some life on both ends of the floor, making 50% of his shots (8-for-16) to finish with 19 points, six assists and three blocks.

RICK FOX / ROBERT HORRY

The starting forwards were a big disappointment. Both Fox’s (9.5 pts., 4.2 rebs) and Horry’s (4.5, 4.5) numbers were down considerably from the first two rounds when the Lakers were 7-2.

JEFF HORNACEK

Having played well in the first two rounds of Jazz playoff victories, Hornacek had not done much against the Lakers-- that is until Sunday when he had his best game, scoring 15 points.

GREG OSTERTAG

Ostertag hit back Sunday. After being slapped earlier this season by Shaquille O’Neal, Ostertag came up big with 11 points on 5-of-7 from the floor and seven rebounds.

PARTING SHOTS

Shaq came to play, it’s a shame nobody else did.