San Antonio Spurs up 50-42 at the half

May 7, 2012; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Al Jefferson (25) is defended by San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan (21) during the first quarter of game four in the Western Conference quarterfinals of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

The San Antonio Spurs hold an eight point lead over the Utah Jazz after 24 minutes of play.

In an interesting tactical move, Tyrone Corbin inserted Derrick Favors into the starting lineup. Josh Howard, the incumbent small forward, struggled to get anything going. He averaged five points, 3.7 rebounds and 33.3 percent shooting in three games this series.

Incorporating Favors into the starting lineup poses some problems for the Spurs primarily because of his size and athleticism. At the half, Favors totaled five points, five rebounds and two blocks in 19:56.

Judging from the minutes, there is an obvious difference between the Spurs and Jazz box scores. No Spur has logged more than 15 minutes in the half while there are four (Favors, Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson, Devin Harris) that best that amount. As a result, the San Antonio bench scored 29 more points than Utah.

The Spurs built their manageable lead on a 7-0 run at the end of the first quarter. Eventually, the Spurs would blitz the Jazz for a 17-3 run that put them up 10 points.

Tim Duncan leads all Spurs with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting.