Jazz are a game away from the Western finals

OAKLAND — Other than a 40-point fourth quarter, and the fact they were just getting over a humiliating defeat, and they had an unseemly 20 turnovers in the first three quarters, there's just one other weird thing about the Jazz's 115-101 win over the Warriors, Sunday: It's not just the Western Conference finals that are within reach.

You can look it up.

There's nobody they can't beat that's still out there.

"They (the Jazz) do have character. They will fight back," observed Jazz coach Jerry Sloan.

The Jazz moved one game from the conference finals by dispatching Golden State, after losing by 20 on Friday. In the process, they made the Warriors' loosey-goosey approach look a little overcooked. All that hype about dunks and running-and-gunning?

Gone like a downtown parking space.

"They ended up with a 'W' — with a capital 'W,'" said Warriors' coach Don Nelson.

In order to derail the Jazz, Golden State would have to do something that has happened just eight previous times — come back from a 3-1 playoff deficit. But like credit card debt and crocodiles, once the Jazz get a grip, they're tough to shake.

So while the Jazz wouldn't dare speak further ahead than Tuesday's Game 5 in Salt Lake, the reality is that now that they've gone this far, they're looking dangerous to almost any team that might come up.

There is only one team left in the playoffs they didn't match or better during in the regular season First under the microscope: San Antonio, which currently leads its conference semifinal series with Phoenix 2-1. During the regular season the Jazz split four games with the Spurs. Meanwhile, the Jazz won three of four games against the Suns.

As far as the East goes, the Jazz won both games against Detroit, both against Chicago, and split two games with Cleveland.

The only remaining playoff team that did outdo the Jazz this year is New Jersey; the Nets won both games this year. But it took a 35-foot basket by Vince Carter at the buzzer of one of those games to accomplish that.

All this, of course, wasn't a consideration Friday night, after the Jazz lost 125-105 to the Warriors.