Spurs handle Jazz,move up in 3-1 series

In game four at home, the Jazz desperately needed a win, but for some reason, only point guard Deron Williams decided to show up and do anything about it. Instead of winning, the Jazz fell 91-79 to the Spurs, who were carried much of the way by wing Manu Ginobili, whose hustle play down the stretch led his team both emotionally and physically.

Ginobili finished with 22 points, 16 coming in the fourth quarter, with 11 coming from the foul line. He drove hard to the lane with aggression unmatched by any of the Jazz players, who would've been smart to learn from Ginobili's play. Whether the Jazz or the fans thought he was flopping or playing dirty, it didn't matter. He was putting the game in the officials hands to decide.

"I'm very proud of what we did in the fourth quarter, because it was looking ugly for us," Ginobili told The Associated Press. "We stepped up and did a really good job."

Williams had 28 points and 10 assists for the Jazz in his 38 minutes of action after losing eight pounds prior to the game because of a stomach ailment. Only Carlos Boozer had more than nine points for the rest of the Jazz, scoring 18, none of which came from the foul line. The rest of the team played uninspired, lackadaisical basketball for the majority of the second half and will need to revert back to game-three form in San Antonio with three must-win games ahead.

"I'm sure a lot of people are counting us out in the series," Boozer told The AP. "We have a much better feel for this team after playing them four times. All we can do is toughen up ... see if we can get one in San Antonio."

Rampage KOs Liddell at Ultimate Fighting Championship

There are occasions when highly anticipated rematches/sequels live up to the hype that they are given — Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Return of the King come to mind. Other times they don't — examples of which range far from Rocky II-VI to Ali vs. Frazier and Holyfield vs. Bowe 3.

Saturday at UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson another such case of rematch disaster occurred. It wasn't that the first-round knockout Quinton Jackson delivered within the first two minutes to steal away Chuck Liddell's Light Heavyweight Championship belt wasn't exciting; it's just that the fight fell below expectations. However, that's the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, and with Jackson's upset of Liddell, the string of consecutive main-event upsets was stretched to four in the UFC, and its unpredictable nature lives on.

The other news of the night was delivered a few hours before the main event took place, when it was announced that the fighter left standing after the main event would face Pride Middleweight and Welterweight Champion (205-pound and 183-pound divisions) Dan Henderson sometime in the fall.

The match-up of Jackson (27-6) and Henderson (22-5) pits two former training partners and good friends in the octagon against one another, and marks the first inter-organization fight with Pride and UFC since the UFC acquired the rival company.

After his win Saturday night, Jackson commented that he's training hard now with his new trainers and expects to have the belt for a long time. If that's to be the case, he'll have to beat Henderson, who looks to be as hot a fighter as there is in the world right now.

The upset train continued earlier on the card when new UFC arrival Houston Alexander (7-1) knocked out Keith Jardine 48 seconds into the first round with a devastating flurry of uppercuts and right hands to the jaw. Alexander, who was added late when the previous scheduled opponent bowed out due to an injury, was very impressive in his octagon debut and should have another fight coming rather soon.

Reach reporter Anthony Dion at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.