PORTLAND, Oregon, May 22 (AFP) - The Portland Trail Blazers made Utah look old and slow Saturday, grabbing a 97-87 win to get the edge on the two time defending Western Conference champs in the National Basketball Association playoffs. The massive front line of Brian Grant, Rasheed Wallace and Arvydas Sabonis dominated inside as the Blazers took a 2-1 lead over the Jazz in the best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final series. In the second semi-final series, the San Antonio Spurs pushed the Los Angeles Lakers to the brink of elimination with a 103-91 victory for a 3-0 lead in the series. After matching the Jazz's precision execution down the stretch of a tight Game Two, the Trail Blazers simply muscled their way to an easy win. Grant again won his duel with Karl Malone, collecting 16 points and 15 rebounds. He set an early physical tone with his work on the boards. Wallace scored 20 points, most of them on dunks off quick moves near the basket. The Jazz simply have no one on their team who can match the strength and speed of Wallace, who added seven rebounds. Sabonis had 15 points and eight rebounds, clogging the middle and again making Utah center Greg Ostertag a non-factor. Sabonis sat for all of the fourth quarter. All three frontcourt men scored 11 points in the opening half, when the Blazers grabbed 26 rebounds, shot 26 free throws and bolted to a 47-30 lead. Portland led by 25 points early in the third quarter and by double digits until garbage time. Malone had 25 points and 14 rebounds, most of them after Utah fell hopelessly behind. 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 acdept that. That's the worst thing in pro basketball, when you don't even show up to play." Game Four is Sunday night at Portland, where Utah has lost eight of its last 10 games. The back-to-back games appear to work in favor of the Blazers, who are much deeper and younger than the Jazz and never have lost a series when taking a 2-1 lead. "If we go into the game tomorrow thinking it's going to be easy, then Utah will take the home-court advantage back," said Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy, who received his NBA Coach of the Year award from Comissioner David Stern prior to the game. "If we go into this game with some kind of feeling that we can turn them on and off, they can beat us. They can beat us here, they can beat us across the street and they can beat us in Utah if we don't play our game." The frustration mounted for Utah as Malone and John Stockton were hit with technical fouls with 1:02 left. The Jazz trailed 47-30 at halftime and it could have been worse as they held the Blazers' backcourt to 1-of-15 shooting. "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." The Lakers' situation is even more urgent. They must win Sunday to stay in the series, against a Spurs team that is unbeaten on the road in these playoffs. Tim Duncan collected 37 points and 14 rebounds and Jaren Jackson and Avery Johnson had huge fourth quarters for the Spurs. Even with fellow "Twin Tower" David Robinson limited to 24 minutes by foul trouble, Duncan simply was unstoppable. He was 19-of-23 from the line as he matched the 1999 individual playoff high. In the first three quarters, Duncan carried the offense. In the final period, he effectively passed out of double-teams to the perimeter, where Jackson and Johnson were burying open jumpers. Jackson scored a playoff career-high 22 points off the bench, making 9-of-15 shots. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and helped hold Kobe Bryant scoreless for the final six-plus minutes. Johnson was held to two points through the first 3 1/2 quarters but made three clutch jumpers in the final six minutes. He is shooting 55 percent from the field in the postseason. The Spurs scored the last 13 points as they again outplayed the Lakers down the stretch. The Lakers didn't score in the final 1:55, missing five shots and two free throws. Superstar center Shaquille O'Neal had 22 points and 15 rebounds but did not have a basket in the final nine-plus minutes. bb99  