Warriors' surprising run comes to an end in Game 5 By Geoff Lepper CONTRA COSTA TIMES Article Launched: 05/16/2007 03:02:16 AM PDT SALT LAKE CITY -- Weeks ago, before the playoffs began, Warriors coach Don Nelson did his best to temper the rampant enthusiasm among his fan base by quoting a certain TNT commentator who would go on to dismiss Golden State's postseason chances. "For once, I agree with Charles Barkley," Nelson said. "The best team will win a seven-game series 99 percent of the time." The Utah Jazz proved that maxim true Tuesday night, scoring the final 12 points in a 100-87 Game 5 victory that proved one final time that Jerry Sloan's club was indeed the best team in its Western Conference playoff semifinal against the Warriors. "Utah was the better team the whole series," Warriors guard Jason Richardson said. "They just picked us apart." Needing to win Game 5 in a rocking EnergySolutions Arena to stay alive, the Warriors instead went out in a blaze of misguided temper and equally errant shots, losing by a 4-1 count that was closer than the cold, hard box scores will suggest 20 years from now. But not that close. In the end, Utah knuckled down behind a combined 42 points and 29 rebounds from forwards Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer, and 11 fourth-quarter points from former Warriors guard Derek Fisher. Baron Davis finished with 21 points, eight assists and six steals for Golden State, and Matt Barnes had 14 points, six boards and four swipes. But the Warriors could not overcome 36.4 percent shooting from the floor, a 20 percent conversion rate on 3-pointers and 48 points in the paint for the Jazz. Perhaps it was prophetic that Warriors swingman Stephen Jackson described the Jazz as being "more mentally tough" than the Warriors' first-round playoff opponent, the Dallas Mavericks. Utah was certainly tougher when it counted, outscoring the Warriors by a staggering 43 points -- 152-109 -- in the fourth quarter and overtime over the series' five games. "This whole series, they just made plays in the fourth," Jackson said. Said Nelson: "The last four or five minutes of the game ... that's where they showed their dominance the most." That held true Tuesday. Golden State tied the score at 83-all with 6:26 to go on a jumper by Davis, but the Jazz responded immediately with a tap-in bucket by Kirilenko and a 3-pointer by Fisher. The Warriors drew to within one point at 88-87 when Richardson stepped in for a 15-footer with 3:39 left, but Utah scored the final 12 points of the game as the Warriors went 0-5 with two turnovers as the clock struck midnight -- figuratively and almost literally. "They tried to give us a chance, but we just couldn't get over the hump," Warriors forward Al Harrington said. "They were the better team tonight." The Warriors almost took themselves out of the game with a third-quarter burst of insanity that started with Barnes clocking Matt Harpring for a hard foul and three-point play at the 1:01 mark. After a miss by Jackson, he reacted by taking a forearm to the chest of Dee Brown, the third-string Utah point guard who was making his return after suffering a scary sprained neck in Game 2. That drew a type-1 flagrant foul, and an incensed Jackson picked up a technical arguing with referee Bennett Salvatore. Then, at the quarter's end, Barnes was nailed with a technical of his own for yanking on Boozer's right arm while trying to secure a rebound. It was only because Brown and Harpring each missed a pair of three throws each after the Ts and flagrant foul that the Warriors weren't finished right then. "I guess they always caught us retaliating is what it was, because they were grabbing us and throwing us around," Barnes said. "We're only human. We have to react, and they always caught us." Whether it was Monta Ellis' return to the starting lineup or a simple response to their lethargic performance in Game 4, the Warriors came out spitting fire. With a vastly increased defensive energy powering its 1-2-2 zone, Golden State was able to force nine first-quarter turnovers that led to 15 of its 32 points. A 7-2 run to open the third quarter, including a 3-pointer from Jackson and a pair of buckets from Harrington, seemed to be a harbinger of good things and left the Warriors up 61-54. But Kirilenko, whom the Warriors fingered all series as being Utah's weakest link, scored seven straight points to pull Utah back even. "They shot layups, we shot jumpers," Davis said. "They got to the foul line, we didn't. They got offensive rebounds. The same thing that happened in Game 4, Game 1 and Game 2, things that came back to haunt us, haunted us tonight. We were right there. We had an opportunity to win this ballgame and take it back to Oakland." Instead of staging Game 6 at Oracle Arena on Thursday night, the Warriors will report to their headquarters this afternoon for a final debrief and than a delayed summer vacation. "Three months ago, we were being counted out of the playoffs, and we made it to the second round," Richardson said. "I mean, we had a lot to be proud of this season." Even Barkley would have to admit that. http://www.contracostatimes.com/warriors/ci_5908138 --

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