Write On Sports LLC - "Jazz, led by Fisher, show more poise" by Jake Lloyd

Jazz, led by Fisher, show more poise

2007-05-14 13:56:00 | By: Jake Lloyd

Jerry Sloan must be super relieved he kept Derek Fisher on the playoff roster.

About a week ago there were questions as to whether Sloan should deactivate Fisher, who was going through a very difficult time as his daughter, Tatum, underwent treatment for a rare form of cancer. Fisher missed the first game of Utah's Western Conference semifinal series against Golden State and it was unclear if he would make it from New York -- where his family was -- to Salt Lake City for Game 2.

Sloan could have activated another guard to bolster a very slim backcourt for the Jazz. But he didn't. He stuck with Fisher. And on Sunday night, his decision paid huge dividends. Fisher led Utah to a 115-101 road victory over Golden State -- the Warriors' first loss at home this postseason -- and a 3-1 series lead heading back to Utah for Game 5 Tuesday.

With the Golden State crowd full of yellow “We Believe” T-shirts trying to push its Warriors to tie the series, Fisher silenced them time after time in the fourth quarter. He scored 14 of his 21 points in the period and also finished with five assists.

Fisher's biggest basket came about midway through the quarter after Golden State had scored five straight points to take an 87-86 lead. With the crowd rhapsodic, Fisher calmly stepped into a 3-pointer to silence them. The Jazz would never trail again.

"I haven't really had any rhythm to my game," Fisher said. "I've been trying to get my legs back.

"It felt good to be able to step up for my teammates tonight. I was glad I was able to use my experience to help us."

Fisher provided the final stake in Golden State's heart with another 3-pointer with 2:15 to play that extended Utah's lead to 100-93. From there, it was a free throw shooting clinic for the Jazz, who finished 37-for-43 (86 percent) from the line.

"We knew he was going to come back trying to give it his best," Sloan said of Fisher, "and we certainly needed it in order to win this game."

Fisher's clutch play in the final quarter wore off on his teammates, who seemed to calm down and play very fundamentally sound. After turning the ball over 20 times during the first three quarters -- which was the main reason Golden State led by three entering the fourth -- Utah gave it up just once in the final 12 minutes. Deron Williams, who made several ballhandling mistakes through the first 36 minutes -- including stepping out of bounds while initiating Utah's halfcourt offense -- was stellar in the final quarter. He finished with 13 assists.

And Carlos Boozer was simply the man. With Fisher hitting from the outside, Boozer had a little more room to operate down low, and when his teammates got him the ball, he was indomitable. He finished with 34 points and 12 rebounds, both game-highs, and shot 13-for-19 from the field.

While Boozer scored a mere four points in the final quarter, his 30 points through the first three quarters is what kept Utah, despite its turnover troubles, in the game and primed to make its final rally. He gave his teammates -- in particular Mehmet Okur (12 fourth quarter points) and Williams (six fourth quarter points) -- the confidence that they could win in Golden State's hectic home environment.

After the game, Golden State coach Don Nelson didn't hold back in lauding the Utah big man.

"We could not handle Boozer," Nelson said. "He's a major star.

"I don't think people realize how good Boozer is. When he's healthy, he's as good as anybody out there."

On Sunday, he was clearly the best player on either team.

Entering Game 4, you could make a claim for the Warriors' Baron Davis as the playoffs' best player, but not after Sunday. Davis, like the rest of the Warriors, seemed to lack the energy and enthusiasm that we've finished with a moderate 15 points on 16 shot attempts.

The Warriors let themselves get stuck in a halfcourt game. They outscored Utah just 14-11 in fastbreak points. They settled for way too many 3-pointers (12-for-39), including several ill-advised step-back tries that were not in the flow of their offense. At times they appeared selfish, trying to do everything on their own.

Stephen Jackson epitomized this self-reliance. On one key fourth quarter possession, it appeared he had completely forgotten about his teammates as he tried to slip his way through two defenders toward the basket. The result was a turnover. He was trying, as TNT color commentator and former coach Doug Collins remarked, to do too much. The Warriors finished with just 14 assists on 34 made field goals, and Davis had half of those.

"We just didn't have enough juice," Nelson said. "We weren't strong enough. They did everything they were supposed to do to beat us.

"I thought we made poor decisions on our (fast)break when we had them."

But, really, the Warriors didn't have many transition opportunities. Firstly, the Jazz did an excellent job of getting back on defense. Secondly, Utah made 51.4 percent of its shots (it's difficult to begin a fastbreak after a made basket). And thirdly, as Nelson said, the Warriors appeared to lack the energy to get up and down the floor possession after possession.

The majority of the game was played in the halfcourt, where Utah exposed Golden State on both ends of the hardwood. On one end, Williams and Boozer ran the pick-and-roll to perfection several times (no, I'm not going to compare them to Stockton and Malone, but they're getting there).

On the other end, the Warriors were lulled into shooting way too many 3-pointers. Way too often, there were four or five guys standing on the perimeter, ready to jack up a 25-footer. And they only made the long bombs when they were in the rhythm of the offense -- in other words, off of penetration or ball movement (concepts the Warriors seemed to forget at times during the game).

The Jazz were the aggressors all night, which shows in the numbers. They outrebounded the Warriors 52-36 and shot nine more free throws (43-34), making 16 more (see the game's final score).

Utah exposed Golden State for what the Warriors’ play has belied up until now: a young, inexperienced, at times foolish basketball team.

Meanwhile, while Utah is almost as youthful, come crunch time, it had a battle-tested, three-time NBA champion to guide it.

It had Derek Fisher.

THE EMERGENCE OF MILLSAP

Utah has no need to be frightened when one of its big men, in particular Okur or Andrei Kirilenko, gets in foul trouble. It has Paul Millsap.

The 6-foot-8-inches 22-year-old rookie out of Louisiana Tech (yeah, he has the same alma mater as a certain Karl Malone) filled in nicely for the foul-plagued forwards Sunday, scoring eight points on 4-for-5 shooting and grabbing six rebounds in 19 minutes of action. He was a force especially on the offensive glass, where he snatched three rebounds.

With Millsap and bulldog Matt Harpring coming off the bench, Utah doesn't lose any strength or grit when its big men encounter foul trouble like they did Sunday.

The only frontcourt player that the Jazz can't afford to lose for long stretches is Boozer, who they run their offense through when they're most effective.

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