NBA PLAYOFF RECAP (UTAH-PORTLAND) PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- The Utah Jazz have the experience when it comes to pulling out crucial playoff games. Tonight, the Portland Trail Blazers looked like the postseason veterans down the stretch. Isaiah Rider scored seven of his 24 points in the final 30 seconds as the Trail Blazers pushed the two-time defending Western Conference champions to the brink of elimination with an 81-75 victory. Utah fell into a 3-1 deficit in this semifinal series with Portland, which can clinch its first trip to the conference finals since 1992 when it visits the Delta Center on Tuesday for Game Five. "From a couple of standpoints, this was our best game of the year," said Portland coach Mike Dunleavy. "I say that because we won it with our hearts and our brains rather than physically. I was really pleased with the way we played down the stretch, we played really smart in the fourth quarter." The Jazz had a golden opportunity to even this series on the road, but failed to take advantage of a questionable call and committed a pair of turnovers in the final minute. "I think they're doing the things down the stretch to win the game and I don't think we are," admitted Jazz All-Star forward Karl Malone. With Utah down 72-70, John Stockton drove the lane and Greg Anthony stepped in front to take the charge with 49 seconds left. Rider blew past Adam Keefe and floated a lay-in over Shandon Anderson with 30 seconds remaining to give the Blazers a 74-70 lead. Malone, who was virtually invisible for much of the game, answered with a jumper from the top of the key. But Portland made its free throws down the stretch, including a pair by Jim Jackson with 21 seconds remaining. Stockton came back and slid around Jackson for a layup, with Jackson getting called for a foul despite replays showing no contact. Stockton sank the free throw to make it 76-75, but Portland got the in-bounds pass to Rider, an 82 percent free throw shooter in the postseason. Rider stepped to the line with 14.7 seconds left and made both attempts. Bryon Russell looked for Stockton on the ensuing in-bounds play but his pass ended up in the hands of Rasheed Wallace. He got the ball back to Rider, who made Blazers fans nervous by missing his first free throw before hitting the second to make it a two-possession game with 8.6 seconds left. "I was going to hit Stockton, but he cut in and then cut back out and I threw it in when I should have just called a timeout and set up another play, but I didn't do it," Russell said of his errant pass. "If I let this get me down, then I'm not a competitor." Stockton then forced a 3-pointer that was well off the mark and Rider sealed the victory with two free throws. Rider pointed to some words from teammate Brian Grant that helped him come through with a clutch performance. "They had taken me out of my game a bit and then Brian (Grant) came to me and said, 'Wake up, we need you. We're going to put it on your shoulders tonight. They can't guard you, they're coming to double-team you kind of slow.' "He talked me back into the game. I was frustrated, I thought maybe I was shooting the ball too much, so I asked Mike (Dunleavy) to run plays for other people. And he (Grant) told me, 'We need you, you're doing fine. Just get back to being aggressive.'" Rider made 10-of-12 free throws and the Blazers sank 33-of-42 overall, compared to a 16-of-26 effort by the Jazz. The team that has gone to the line more has won each game of the series. Malone managed just nine points through the first 40 minutes before finishing with 17. He also added 11 rebounds, but Arvydas Sabonis grabbed a playoff career-high 15 boards and led the bigger Blazers to a 44-34 edge on the glass. Russell scored 17 points and Stockton had 16 and 10 assists for the Jazz, who faced a 2-1 deficit against Sacramento in the opening round. This time, they will have to win three straight games facing elimination to get back to the conference finals. "Portland outplayed us. They have the energy over the top of us," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "I can't live with players who don't compete. I expect our younger guys to have energy. ... I just want us to come ready to play. We have one game left and I want to see if we've got someone who wants to play." After being a non-factor throughout, Malone got the ball in the post and was fouled as he hit a layup against Rasheed Wallace with 7:39 left to pull Utah within 64-60. Malone buried an 18-footer, but then the Jazz seemed to forget about their superstar as he barely touched the ball for three minutes. Meanwhile, Sabonis hit a hook shot over Malone to push Portland's lead to 66-62. Utah answered as Stockton sank a technical free throw off an illegal defense and Russell drained a 3-pointer to tie the game with 5:46 to play. Todd Fuller had a chance to put the Jazz on top but missed badly with a jumper, and Anthony made them pay with a 3-pointer that pushed Portland in front. After Utah committed a turnover, Anthony fed Jackson for a layup and he was fouled, hitting the free throw for a 72-66 cushion with four minutes left. "It was squarely on our shoulders tonight. This team hasn't been in that situation before," Anthony said. "We played with the hearts of champions and it was a thrill for me to be out there." Malone finally got back into the offense, feeding Stockton for an easy layup before hitting a jumper from the left wing that cut the deficit to 72-70 with 2:49 remaining. The teams twice traded empty possessions, including Anderson missing a wide-open 16-footer, before Stockton was whistled for the offensive foul against Anthony. It was a more physical style of play that the Jazz used in this contest against the larger Blazers. Utah committed 35 fouls and equaled Portland's production in the paint, with each team getting 34 points inside. Early on, the Blazers appeared ready to run away with the game and the Jazz seemed surprisingly uninspired. Utah made only one basket through the first 7:33 as Portland jumped to an 8-2 lead. The Jazz trailed 20-11 through one period after hitting just 5-of-17 (29 percent) from the field. A driving layup by Anthony gave Portland its largest lead, 24-13, with 9:46 left before halftime. But the Blazers failed to hit a field goal for the next eight minutes. Three free throws by Howard Eisley and a pair by Russell cut the deficit to 24-18 when Sloan added to the intensity. When Wallace pushed off Thurl Bailey near Utah's bench, Sloan ran on the floor to confront Wallace and had to be restrained by an official. "I had every right to go on the floor because it looked as though it was going to be a fight and I had the right to go out and protect my guy," Sloan explained. "I've had a problem with us coming in here to Portland and hearing that our guys always knock down the other guys. My problem with Wallace is there have been situations in which he has been involved." Damon Stoudamire ended Portland's field-goal drought with a 3-pointer to push the lead to 38-30 with 1:47 remaining. Keefe answered with a jumper, Anderson sank a free throw and Stockton hit a driving layup to make it a 38-35 at the half. Russell tied the game with a three-point play to open the third quarter. Three minutes later, Keefe dunked off a feed from Stockton to give Utah its biggest lead, 46-42, and force Portland to call timeout. The Jazz went on for a 58-56 lead by the end of the third quarter, but they could not stop Brian Grant early in the fourth. After a free throw by Rider, Grant converted a three-point play for a 60-58 lead. Malone was called for traveling, and Grant hit a tough layup inside with 9:52 to go. While Sabonis contributed 14 points, the rest of Portland's starting front line was held in check. Grant was limited to seven points and seven rebounds, while Wallace had just two points and three boards. That trio combined for 51 points and 30 rebounds in an easy 97-87 victory in Game Four. Stoudamire chipped in 10 points and Jackson added nine for the Blazers, who shot just 34 percent (22-of-64) from the floor. Utah hit 41 percent (29-of-70) but made only 1-of-8 3-pointers, while Portland connected on 4-of-10. "For the next game, we're just going to let it all hang out," Malone said. "We're one game from elimination, so we have to come out and get ready because we're in our place and we have to go down with a fight. That's got to be our attitude." --=-=-- 