The Utah Jazz defeated the Golden State Warriors 100-87 on Tuesday night to advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1998.

 

It was a messy game on both ends, but the Jazz were able to outlast the Warriors to win the series 4-1 and advance to the Western Conference finals.  The three pointers that were falling for the Warriors throughout the playoffs fell flat tonight.  The Jazz on the other hand didn't look too hot themselves, committing a large number of turnovers,  but were able to last where it counted in the 4th quarter. 

 

Again it was Derek Fisher coming up with a big clutch performance in the 4th quarter, including 3 3-pointers, to help the Jazz outlast the Warriors.  Andrei Kirilenko had 21 point and 15 rebounds and a big steal with about 1 minute left in the game to help seal the deal for Utah.

 

The 3 point shots that were falling so easily for the Warriors throughout the playoffs weren't falling tonight.  They were just 6-30 from 3 point land.  Despite this they were able to stay in the game thanks to a multitude of Utah turnovers and poor free-throw shooting by the Jazz.  I think Charles Barkley was right in that as we got deeper into the series the smaller Golden State players had gotten tired from having to play with Utah's big men.  Some of the frustration came out in the end of the third quarter as Stephen Jackson clobbered Dee Brown for a hard flagrant foul and then argued about it for a technical.  A play or so later and GS got hit with another technical on Matt Barnes (I think) which also had coach Don Nelson storming the court.  The Warriors really are poor sportsmen and lose their composure much too easily.

 

Whether it was frustration or fatigue, Golden State wasn't able to pull it together in the 4th quarter while the Jazz were able to stay focused and make some big shots to close out the series despite poor free throw shooting and a lot of turnovers.

 

The Jazz will now face the winner of the Spurs/Suns series.  Both teams will be very tough for the Jazz, but after defeating the league's hottest team they will be ready for anything.  Also, the Jazz have played very well against both the Spurs and the Suns.  They split in the regular season 2-2 with the Spurs and were 3-1 against the Suns, including two wins in Phoenix.

 

Whatever happens, it's a great day to be a Jazz fan! Go Jazz! 

	1. 16-05-2007 01:15
	Yea, baby! And I just scored nosebleed tickets for Game 4 when the Spurs finish up their sweep of the Jazz. http://www.karlrees.com Guest

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	2. 16-05-2007 01:27
	Keep dreaming That's IF the Spurs get past the Suns, which given the suspensions on the Suns side seems more likely now. The Jazz will split in San Antonio (hopefully the game I go to ) and will beat them in Utah. The Jazz are the only team left that is undefeated at home in the playoffs. http://cutterpillow.com Registered

Dave Thorup