SPORTSTICKER NBA PLAYOFF PREVIEW (UTAH-PORTLAND) Utah at Portland 3:00 pm EDT PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- The Portland Trail Blazers look to hold home-court advantage when they battle the Utah Jazz this afternoon in Game Three of their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series. Isaiah Rider scored a playoff career-high 27 points, including eight of his team's final 10, as Portland escaped with an 84-81 victory over Utah in Game Two on Thursday, earning a split in Salt Lake City. The Trail Blazers survived when John Stockton's potential tying layup rolled around the rim before falling out with two seconds remaining. The contest featured anything but pretty basketball as the teams combined to score 25 first-quarter and 65 first-half points, the lowest marks in NBA playoff history. Portland is a league best 24-3 at home, including postseason, but one of those losses was a 91-77 loss to Utah on March 12, when Karl Malone scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Jazz. The Blazers defeated the Jazz, 102-100 in double overtime, 10 days earlier at home. Malone, the Jazz's leading scorer in all seven of their postseason games, once again led Utah with 23 points and 17 rebounds. He will be public enemy No. 1 at the Rose Garden today after being fined $10,000 for for his elbow to Brian Grant in Game One on Tuesday. Grant scored 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting Thursday and leads the league in postseason field goal percentage at 67 percent (38-of-57). He leads the Blazers with 20.0 points per game. Portland has won six of its last eight home playoff contests, including both games against Utah in their first-round series in 1996. Game Four is Sunday in Portland.  