From Deseret News archives:
Emotions burned Warriors
Run-and-gun, actually.
Golden State's fast-paced style of shoot first, ask questions later was good enough to keep them close to the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena on Tuesday night. The Warriors actually led by seven points midway through the third quarter.
But in the end, they simply ran out of gas after losing their cool. Utah finished off the Warriors in Game 5 of the best-of-7 series with a 100-87 home win. The Warriors were scoreless for the final 3:47 of the game.
"We didn't have enough down the stretch, but we were right in that game," said Warriors coach Don Nelson. "I really wanted to go back to Oakland to see what would happen there and to let our fans carry us to victory. And then you always hope for a seventh game, but it didn't work out that way."
Two technicals and a flagrant foul by the Warriors in the waning moments of the third quarter helped the Jazz gain momentum — and the lead — entering the fourth. It stayed close until the final couple of minutes, but the Warriors could never quite get over the hump.
"We get carried away with our emotions," Nelson admitted. "But you take our emotions away from us and we're not very good. So we play with emotion and the last thing I want to do is try too hard to control that. We need to control it a little bit, for sure, because it gets away from us sometimes."
The Warriors, who have been playing Nelson's brand of "small ball" for much of the season, went even smaller to start the game. Monta Ellis, a 6-3 guard, started in place of 6-11 center Andris Biedrins — the Warriors best rebounder.
The results weren't too surprising. The Jazz, having owned the boards all series, were even more dominant early in the game. But the Warriors were helped out by Ellis' offense — he had 10 points in the first quarter alone — and defensive pressure. Golden State, despite being outrebounded in the first quarter 17-4, actually led 32-29 thanks in large part to Utah's eight turnovers.
Golden State still led by a bucket at the half, but shot just 20 percent from the field — making 4-of-20 shots — in the third period as the Jazz took the lead. They weren't much better in the fourth quarter either, making only five of their 17 shots from the floor. In the second half they shot just 25 percent.
The Warriors set the NBA record for the most 3-point field goals ever game in a five-game series with 59, but were only 6-for-30 from beyond the arc on Tuesday.
Still, Golden State has much to be proud of. The franchise hadn't been to the playoffs for 13 years and their upset of the Dallas Mavericks in the first round made them the talk of the NBA for awhile.
"There will be no teary eyes in our locker room," said Nelson. "We've had a fantastic year."
E-mail: lojo@desnews.com
