Carlos Boozer & Utah Jazz Advance, Baron Davis, ’We Believe", & The Golden State Warriors Are Eliminated

What Happened: Size is King. The Utah Jazz used their big line-up to defeat the Golden State Warriors 100-87, taking their Western Conference semifinals series 4-1.

With the win, the Jazz secured a birth in the 2007 Western Conference finals.

Utah won the battle of the boards by a 59-35 margin. Four different players registered 10-or-more rebounds for the Jazz: Andrei Kirilenko (15), Carlos Boozer (14), Paul Millsap (12), and Mehmet Okur (10).

Derek Fisher picked up the slack for Deron Williams, who scored just two points on 1-for-11 shooting.

 Fisher, who’s dealt with personal issues in this series, scored 14 of his 20 points in the second-half.

Baron Davis finished his great playoff run with another impressive game. B-Diddy tallied 21 points, eight assists, and six steals.

But his supporting cast was nowhere to be found. Stephen Jackson had 16 points, but connected on just 3-of17-shooting, while Jason Richardson had 13 points.

The Warriors hit just 6-of-30 three point attempts. They also struggled controlling their emotions. On several occasions, Golden State lost their cool with their opponents or wasted energy arguing with referees.

The Jazz will meet the winner of the Suns-Spurs series.

Reaction of CNN reporter Marty Burns on Golden State’s loss:
“Midnight struck for the NBA’s Cinderella on Tuesday night, as the Warriors fell at Utah 100-87 in Game 5 to lose the series. Golden State simply was not able to overcome its lack of size against the Jazz. Carlos Boozer proved to be too much inside, and Utah dominated the backboards most of the series. The Warriors also might have been a little tired after their emotional upset of the Mavs in the first round. Still, Golden State will go down in history as the first No. 8 seed to topple a No. 1 in a seven-game series — and they sure made these playoffs a lot more fun to watch.”(CNNSI)

Reaction of Golden State guard Baron Davis on the difference in the series:
“They shot layups and we shot jumpers. They got to the foul line, we didn’t. They got offensive rebounds. The same thing that happened in Game 4 came back to haunt us tonight. I don’t think we gave up. I think Derek Fisher played extremely well for them, hitting those big 3-point baskets. He was, you know, incredible. And Deron Williams is one of the best point guards in the league. It’s an honor and a privilege to play against him. It was just one of those things. We got out-muscled, out-manned under the basket. That’s why we lost." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Reaction of Golden State coach Don Nelson on his team’s fine season:
"There will be no teary eyes in our locker room. We had a fantastic year, and I’m real proud of that team. We competed tonight as hard as we could, and I thought the Jazz were sensational. Sometimes I wondered why, but there we were for the last four or five minutes of the game, with a real shot to win, and that’s when they showed their dominance. So congratulations to them, and to Jerry Sloan." (San Francisco Chronicle)

 Click here to read and subscribe to Oly Sandor’s NBA blog.