Glory days again for Jazz
Utah ended Golden State’s surprising run through the playoffs and got the Jazz back to where they haven’t been since the days of John Stockton and Karl Malone.
Andrei Kirilenko had 21 points, 15 rebounds and three steals to lead the Jazz to a 100-87 victory over the Warriors at Salt Lake City on Tuesday night, wrapping up the Western Conference semifinal series in five games.
Utah held Golden State to 14 points in the fourth quarter and unraveled the Warriors, who had knocked out top-seeded Dallas in the opening round but were badly outmatched in much of this series.
Carlos Boozer had 21 points and 14 boards and Derek Fisher scored 20 points for the Jazz, who clinched it from the foul line after struggling with free throws all night.
Baron Davis led Golden State with 21 points and eight assists.
Utah will play either Phoenix or San Antonio in the Western Conference finals, which the Jazz haven’t been to since Stockton and Malone led them there in 1998. With Stockton’s No. 12 and The Mailman’s No. 32 retired and hanging from the rafters, the new Jazz improved to 6-0 at home in the playoffs.
Deron Williams battled foul trouble and scored just two points, but he had seven assists and Fisher picked up the slack in the backcourt. Fisher scored 11 in the fourth quarter as the Jazz slowly pulled away in the final minutes, finally making their foul shots as Golden State’s magic and patience finally ran out.
Golden State had two technicals and a flagrant foul in the second half.
Davis, who received a flagrant foul from the NBA earlier Tuesday for knocking down Fisher late in Game 4, was caught grabbing Fisher’s shorts as Fisher was getting up after one of many collisions in the game.
Official Bennett Salvatore was right there and called Davis for the foul, which was symbolic of how the game was going. The series and season were falling out of the Warriors’ grasp.
The Jazz kept the Warriors’ hopes alive for a while by missing half of their first 22 free throws.
Bulls 108, Pistons 92: At Auburn Hills, Mich., Ben Gordon scored 28 points and hot-shooting Chicago beat Detroit in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, pulling to 3-2 in the series.
Detroit opened the series with two routs and made a big comeback in the third game, leading some to predict it would end with a sweep – or in five games at the most.
Obviously, the Bulls had other plans.
Game 6 is Thursday night in Chicago and if Game 7 is necessary, it would be Monday night back on the Pistons’ home court.
The Bulls started the game with a sense of urgency and didn’t let up in a game they never trailed.
Chicago only missed one of its first seven shots while holding Detroit to 3-of-9 shooting and each starter scored to help build a 14-6 lead.
The Bulls made 72.2 percent of their shots in the first half – falling just short of an NBA record – but only led by eight at halftime.
They outscored Detroit 33-20 to take a 21-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Unlike the two previous games, the Pistons didn’t rally at all and were frustrated against a team that looked much like the one that swept the defending NBA champion Miami Heat in the first round.
Luol Deng scored 20, Kirk Hinrich had 17 and P.J. Brown scored a playoff-high 15.
The Pistons, meanwhile, didn’t have a one consistently effective player on offense and allowed the Bulls to do whatever they wanted at the other end of the court.
Chauncey Billups scored 17, Richard Hamilton had 16 points and Rasheed Wallace added 15, but the trio combined to shoot just 16 of 42.