Salt Lake City – Five Golden State Warriors fans stood proudly on a street named after former Utah Jazz legend Karl Malone on Tuesday, just outside EnergySolutions Arena about 2 1/2 hours before the Jazz-Warriors’ playoff game.
Two wore T-shirts that said “We Believe” – lately the hottest shirt in the Bay Area. They screamed as Golden State’s bus arrived.
The Warriors and their fans couldn’t keep hope alive any longer, after a season-ending, 100-87 loss to the Jazz in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals matchup.
“There will be no teary eyes for us in our locker room,” Golden State coach Don Nelson said. “We competed tonight. Congratulations to the Jazz. They competed well.”
Utah won the best-of-seven series 4-1 and will play either San Antonio or Phoenix in the West finals.
The Jazz made its first appearance in the playoffs since 2003 – the first since the departure of former legends Malone and John Stockton. After knocking off the Houston Rockets in the first round, then ousting Golden State, the Northwest Division champions will be making their first Western Conference finals appearance since 1998.
“This is a surprise to us,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. “A couple months ago we weren’t playing well.”
Jazz fans were vocal the entire game and obvious in their displeasure for Warriors Baron Davis, Jason Richardson and Stephen Jackson.
Despite an elbow Davis threw at Utah’s Derek Fisher, and a flagrant foul by Richardson in Game 4, both were allowed to play.
Testy fans even booed Davis when he went to the floor hard with 7:57 left in the third quarter after crashing into Fisher.
The Warriors proved they were in no hurry to end the series, owning a 54-52 halftime lead. Golden State received 12 points in the first half from guard Monta Ellis while scoring 20 points off 14 Jazz turnovers.
“It was very good for everybody,” Nelson said of the Warriors’ playoff run, in which they made it to the second round of their first playoff appearance in 13 years. “Fantastic. I thought we competed every game.”
An already physical series got tougher late in the third quarter, thanks to the Warriors.
With 1:01 left in the third, Golden State’s Matt Barnes slapped Utah’s Matt Harpring in the head for a foul. Harpring finalized the three-point play by making a free throw to give Utah a 77-73 lead. Golden State’s Jackson was slapped with a flagrant technical foul after clotheslining Utah’s Dee Brown with 36.8 seconds left in the third. The Jazz, however, missed three free throws.
Barnes was called for a technical after grabbing Utah’s Carlos Boozer’s (21 points) right arm at the third-quarter buzzer. But Harpring missed the free throw.
Fisher’s fifth 3-pointer gave Utah an 88-83 lead with 5:45 left in the fourth quarter. Richardson’s jumper trimmed Golden State’s deficit to 88-87 with 3:30 left for the Warriors’ last points of the season.
The dream ended as Boozer shot his second free throw when Barnes was called for a foul for pushing Andrei Kirilenko (21 points) to the floor.
After an extremely physical series, Jackson showed class by clapping to congratulate the Jazz fans as he walked off the floor.
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-954-1098 or mspears@denverpost.com.
