SPORTSTICKER NBA PLAYOFF RECAP (PORTLAND-UTAH) SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) -- It wasn't pretty, but the Portland Trail Blazers will take it, along with home-court advantage in their Western Conference semifinal series. Isaiah Rider scored a playoff career-high 27 points, including eight of his team's final 10, as the Trail Blazers escaped with an 84-81 victory over the Utah Jazz, earning a split of the first two games of the best-of-seven series. In a game that featured the lowest-scoring first quarter and half in postseason history, Portland survived when John Stockton's potential tying layup rolled around the rim before falling out with two seconds remaining. "I should have made it," Stockton said. "I had an opportunity to make it and I didn't. I probably got fouled but it doesn't matter. I still should have made it. It was a makeable one, foul or no foul." "Obviously, we scored more points in the fourth quarter tonight," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said. "It was a great game that both teams played their hearts out. You know we came up with some big plays and they made some unbelievable shots down the stretch." After Shandon Anderson's 3-pointer pulled the Jazz even at 64-64 with 6:58 to play, Rider buried a shot from beyond the arc to spark a 9-0 spurt that gave Portland a 73-64 cushion with 5:29 to play. Karl Malone, who led Utah with 23 points and 17 rebounds, pulled his team within 73-69 with a three-point play and pair of free throws with 3:46 left. Greg Anthony made the first of two free throws before Jeff Hornacek and Rider staged a duel down the stretch. "I wanted the ball," Rider said. "Everytime down I was waving my hands, `Come to me, come to me.' I mean I was on the ball. I felt good and they weren't double-teaming me like when Hornacek is guarding me. So I felt if they're not going to double-team me, it doesn't matter if you're my size or not, it's my advantage." Hornacek made a running jumper in the lane to cut the deficit to 74-71 with 3:14 remaining but Rider answered with a 15-footer. Hornacek hit a 17-footer before Rider sank a pair from the line to make it 78-73 with 1:39 left. Hornacek's running jumper with 1:17 to go was met by two more free throws from Rider before Stockton's 3-pointer closed the gap to 80-78 with 37 seconds remaining. "Hornacek was just making all the tough ones and that's why they are who they are," Dunleavy added. "Basically, they always keep coming at you but our guys did a great job of finishing the game and doing the things we had to do to come in here and get the win." Rider again answered the call, making a layup with 17 seconds left to give the Blazers an 82-78 lead. But Hornacek was up to the task, draining a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left that trimmed the deficit to one. Anthony was fouled with 10 seconds to go and made 1-of-2 at the line to provide the Jazz with an opportunity to tie or win. Stockton accepted Bryon Russell's inbounds pass and dribbled down the lane before releasing a layup that circled the cylinder but fell out. "Well, things are going to balance out," Hornacek said. "You know we won two games (against) Sacramento that we probably shouldn't have won. You know, maybe we get the call there tonight and go into overtime and we win the game. We've escaped a couple of times, and tonight we didn't." Brian Grant, the recipient of Malone's brutal elbow in Game One, bounced back with 23 points and nine rebounds and Arvydas Sabonis grabbed a postseason career-high 14 boards for the Blazers, who host Games Three and Four on Saturday and Sunday. Hornacek finished with 19 points and Anderson had 16 for Utah, which also lost at home to Sacramento in Game Two of the first round before winning the series in a decisive fifth game. Malone, who was fined $10,000 for elbowing Grant, outscored the rest of his teammates 6-5 in the opening quarter as Portland took a 14-11 lead. The 25 points were one fewer than the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics combined for in the first quarter of an Eastern Conference finals game on May 30, 1988. Things did not get much better in the second quarter as the Blazers went to the locker room with a 32-31 advantage. The 65 first-half points were one less than the previous low, established twice during last season's playoffs. Charlotte and Chicago combined for 66 on May 6, 1998 and the Jazz and Bulls duplicated the feat during the NBA Finals on June 12. Grant and Malone each scored 13 points in the first half as the clubs combined to make only 21-of-74 shots over the lackluster 24 minutes. The Jazz were first to find their touch in the opening moments of the second half. Hornacek converted a three-point play and made a layup to fuel a 10-2 spurt that gave Utah a 41-34 lead with 8:48 remaining. Rider, who had only six points in the first half, scored 10 in the third quarter, including five during a 15-0 run as Portland moved back in front, 49-41, with 4:32 left. Malone made a layup, a free throw and a 19-footer to pull the Jazz within 53-52, but Damon Stoudamire beat the buzzer with a driving layup to give Portland a three-point lead entering the final period. Rasheed Wallace scored 11 points and Sabonis added 10 for the Blazers, who shot a respectable 41 percent (30-of-74) from the field. Portland scored 23 points off 18 turnovers while giving the ball away only eight times. "We just tried to play some really tight defense on them," Wallace said. "We were more close-knit tonight. Our guys played hard, stayed with it and fought through the bad stuff and just came out with the win." Stockton, who hit the winning shot in Game Four against the Kings, was limited to eight points on 3-of-9 shooting and nine assists in 33 minutes. Greg Ostertag grabbed 14 rebounds for the Jazz, who shot 39 percent (29-of-75) but held a 52-41 advantage on the boards.  