Salt Lake City ? For now, the Utah Jazz can focus on trying to keep a lead in a playoff series rather than having to come from behind.

The Jazz lead the Golden State Warriors, 1-0, in the Western Conference semifinals after winning the opener, 116-112, on Monday. It’s the first time Utah has opened a series with a victory since 2001.

The Jazz had to rally after losing the first two games against the Rockets in the opening round and never led in the series until they won Game 7 in Houston on Saturday. So how will they handle being in front?

“I tell them to win every game. Sometimes they don’t listen,” coach Jerry Sloan said after practice Tuesday.

Utah won the opener against the Warriors despite playing at a tempo much better suited to Golden State. It was the most points for the Jazz in a playoff game since scoring 117 in the first-round opener against Sacramento in 1999.

Sloan is much more comfortable with his team scoring somewhere in the 80s, and hopes the Jazz don’t try to run with the Warriors again in Game 2 tonight.

Utah took 23 three-pointers against Golden State. That’s almost 10 more than the Jazz averaged against the Rockets, but still less than the 31 attempts Golden State took from beyond the arc.

“It looked like we wanted to shoot as many as they did. Some of them got us in trouble,” Sloan said. “You’d better make those. We have no chance to recover defensively. That’s where the problem comes in for us.”

Sloan was understanding and in a pretty good mood Tuesday, likely because his team won the previous night. But he wasn’t about to let his players get complacent because they lead the No. 8 seed by one game in what could still be a long series.

“By the time you think that, that’s what happens. You have your ears boxed off the side of your head,” Sloan said.

Utah lost the series opener in 2002 and 2003 to Sacramento and was knocked out in the first round both times. The last time the Jazz opened the playoffs with a win was 2001, when they beat Dallas in the first two games, then lost three straight in the old best-of-five format.

So one game in the conference semifinals doesn’t make Sloan terribly comfortable.

“It really doesn’t mean anything, I’ll tell you that,” Sloan said. “The first team who gets four, that’s what counts.”