Utah Jazz: A step forward? There's still lots of room for improvement

"A never-say-die attitude is always going to give you a chance to win," he added. "As bad as things looked (Friday), I kept thinking thinking, 'We're going to win this game, some way.' And, as it turned out, with one shot we could tie it up and maybe go to overtime and win."

Instead Mehmet Okur and Williams both missed trey tries in the waning seconds — and the Jazz were left to ponder what was, and what could have been.

Williams believes the best team ultimately outlasted the Jazz.

"I don't think you can call it any other way," he said.

"They were tougher than us mentally," Williams added. "They played better than us. They came in here and beat us on our homecourt, something we couldn't do to them."

However, that wasn't a universal feeling as keepsakes were boxed and old shoes discarded.

"This room is filled with talent. But we're young," veteran forward Matt Harpring said. "We're getting better. And, from the bottom of my heart, I think we're a better team than the Lakers are. They beat us, but I think we can beat any team in this league. And we did (in the regular season).

"I hope people realize how close we were," Harpring added. "I mean, Game 5 — if we could have got that game, I think it changes the whole series around. And we were right there. I just think if we keep playing hard, we keep working, this team grows together — yeah, we're going to be there."

Harpring, in fact, ends his sixth season in Utah feeling pretty positive.

"Step forward," he said. "I think the West was generally better this year, so there's a lot more competition out there."

For the Jazz to get to the next level, Harpring added, they need "consistent play, especially in the playoffs. Everyone's got to contribute and play well."

Boozer's scoring — down five-plus points from the regular season, from 21.1 to 16.0 — may be what the Jazz lacked most.

He didn't deny that Saturday, saying, "I don't think I had the playoff series that I wanted to have in either series."

If the Jazz are to move forward, Harpring suggested, adversity akin to that must be overcome.

"It's (about) being mentally tough to go out there and score," Harpring said. "You know, you might not be hitting every shot. But you've got to be mentally tough to take that next shot and not get the ball and not shoot it.

"That's a point where you've got to get to in the playoffs, because playoffs are tough to score. They scout you, they take away things, and they're going to make you do things you don't want to do. But if you start 1-for-4 and you hesitate on that next shot, you're just hurting your team. Because we expect you to make that shot and take that shot.