SAN ANTONIO -- Well, you can't knock a team out of a series in one half.
San Antonio came as close to pulling it off as you can get, though.
Utah put forth the most objectionable display on a Sunday afternoon since Janet Jackson's right breast popped out to say hello before Super Bowl XXXVIII.
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| If the rest of the Jazz play like Deron Williams, they might have a shot at winning Game 2. (Getty Images) |
Then again, maybe blame for the first half of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals -- a 108-100 San Antonio victory -- should be pinned on the Spurs. The hosts came out intent on not letting the short turnaround between Friday's semifinal clincher win against Phoenix and the start of this series become an issue. Likewise, the Spurs were rude hosts from the outset.
By the time the first 24 minutes were up, the Spurs led 54-36, and hats and T-shirts proclaiming San Antonio Western Conference champs were already being printed.
The Spurs' relentlessness made Utah's normally reliable screen-and-roll attack, the same one Gregg Popovich praised as the most efficient in the game, completely ineffective. The most impressive part of the Spurs' rout is how fiercely they closed out on everything, defiant to give Utah even a glimmer of an open look.
The Jazz shot 29 percent in the opening half, forced to settle mostly for long Mehmet Okur jumpers -- with Tim Duncan flying at him. Carlos Boozer, saddled with two fouls within the first six minutes, failed to find his rhythm. Disregard the fact that he finished with his customary double-double after finally finding his pulse in the second half. The 20 points and 12 rebounds are fraudulent. The game was already over.
Forget about Duncan outplaying Boozer. When the outcome was still up for grabs, Fabricio Oberto outplayed him. Francisco Elson did, too. Boozer didn't score his first basket until about three minutes left in the opening half. He had as many fouls as rebounds (three) and more turnovers than field goals.
"The first game is when you're supposed to send a message," Jazz point guard Deron Williams said, "and that first half was not the message we wanted to send."
Instead, San Antonio sent the message that it can buckle down and dominate when it wants to, and if Utah isn't going to respond with similar fire, it's going to find itself swept.
Williams, who was exceptional with 26 second-half points, struggled with Tony Parker's speed early. The Spurs' blur got into the paint whenever he wanted, facilitating easy baskets -- an alien concept as far as the Jazz were concerned. San Antonio shot 65.6 percent.
It was a small miracle that the halftime lead was only 18 points, but that was more than enough cushion. Credit Utah for clawing back into it in the second half -- it needed to just to be able to respect itself come morning -- but don't let it obstruct what really happened.
