SPORTSTICKER NBA PLAYOFF PREVIEW (UTAH-PORTLAND) Utah at Portland Sunday 8:30 pm EDT PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- The Portland Trail Blazers try to push the defending two-time Western Conference champion Utah Jazz to the brink of elimination tonight in their Western Conference semifinal series. The Trail Blazers took a 2-1 lead in the series with a resounding 97-87 victory on Saturday, opening a 21-point lead in the first half. After going blow-for-blow before prevailing down the stretch in a tight Game Two, the Blazers simply muscled their way to an easy win on Saturday. Brian Grant had 16 points and 15 rebounds, Rasheed Wallace added 20 points and Arvydas Sabaonis added 15 and eight as Portland dominated the interior and used a 19-0 run spanning the first and second quarters to put Utah away early. Karl Malone had 25 points and 14 rebounds, but most of them came after his team was out of contention. The Jazz had 12 turnovers against 11 baskets in the first half and showed their frustration with a handful of technical and hard fouls. "The Blazers kicked our rear ends right from the beginning," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "Portland had all the energy. We just showed up. I can't accept. That's the worst thing in pro basketball, when you don't even show up to play." Even if they do "show up", the Jazz have a couple of things working against them entering Game Four. They have dropped eight of their last 10 games at the Rose Garden and the Blazers have never lost a series after taking a 2-1 lead. "We just have to play with more sense of urgency," Malone said. "We hate to lose anytime and we went through a stretch when it was embarrassing." Portland coach Mike Dunleavy, who received his NBA Coach of the Year award from Comissioner David Stern prior to Saturday's game, has entrusted his point-guard duties to the solid combination of Damon Stoudamire and Greg Anthony. The two combined for 21 points on Saturday as well as limiting John Stockton to 17 combined points over the last two games. Game Five is in Utah on Tuesday.  