No matter what he tried, though, failed to make up for the ground Utah lost so early, as San Antonio's lead never dipped below 16 points after the break and never was under 20 during a final quarter in which it soared to as high as 29.

Spurs star Tim Duncan, in fact, matched point guard Tony Parker for game-high scoring honors with 21 — yet neither played more than 29 minutes.

And with that, the Jazz were left with little choice but to face reality.

"We had a pretty successful run in the playoffs. It got cut short by a better team," Williams said. "We didn't have a lot of things go right for us this series, and we got beat pretty handily, pretty easily — by a better team."

"The season's over. We can't look back and say, 'If we did this,' or whatever," forward Matt Harpring added. "It's time to take your hats off to them and say, 'You know what? They're a good team.'"

Harpring agreed with Williams that the Jazz's only win Wednesday might have been the lesson realized.

"We can learn things from this team — how to play together, how to play for each other," Williams said.

"We know (now) what it takes to be a champion," Harpring added, "and it puts a fire in you for next year."

Even as he said that, though, a few embers refused to die.

"There's just that smell," Harpring said, "of 'you're close.' That's what makes it tough."

---

E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com