improved on the road after a rough December. Despite the off-season controversy and trade talk, Kirilenko elevated his play, improving all stats from the previous season, and seemed content with his new role as a defender and a facilitator as opposed to a scorer. Boozer again was an All-Star selection, while Williams continued to elevate his play. The Jazz finished the regular season fifth-best in the Western Conference with a 54–28 record. The Jazz sold out 46 of 47 home games (including playoffs) during the year, and possessed a 37–4 home regular-season record; that was, however, offset by a sub-par road win–loss record. The Jazz again faced the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, this time as a number 4 seed (although the Rockets possessed home-court advantage due to a better record). The Jazz took a 2–0 series lead in Houston, but lost the first game in Salt Lake City. After splitting the next two games, the Jazz beat the Rockets 113–91 in game 6, placing them into a second-round match-up with the number 1 seeded Los Angeles Lakers, their first postseason meeting since the 1998 Western Conference finals. Utah lost games 1 and 2 in Los Angeles. However, the Jazz held up their great home win record and defeated Los Angeles in Games 3 and 4. The Jazz lost game 5 in Los Angeles and were eliminated in Game 6. The Jazz made no major moves during the off-season. The 2008–09 season was difficult for the Jazz as they struggled with injuries that disrupted team chemistry, and although they were again nearly unstoppable at home, they possessed a poor road record. Utah's top three players all missed significant time due to sickness or injury; Williams missed 13 of the first 15 games, Boozer missed more than half of the season, and Okur missed sporadic time due to both injury and his father's sickness that led him to travel to his native Turkey early in the season. On February 20, 2009, Jazz owner Larry H. Miller died of complications from diabetes. His son, Greg Miller, became the new CEO of the team. The Jazz finished with a 48–34 record, slipping to No. 8 in the competitive Western Conference playoff race, after which they were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers for the second year in a row, 4 games to 1. The season was the last for