Jazz On The Move

May 13, 1998 / 12:03 AM EDT / CBS/AP

The Utah Jazz are back in the Western Conference finals because of some impressive defense.

The Jazz advanced to the conference finals for the fourth time in five seasons with an 87-77 victory over San Antonio on Tuesday night, winning the best-of-7 series in five games and eliminating the Spurs from the playoffs for the third time in that same span.

The Jazz will meet the winner of the Seattle SuperSonics-Lakers series, which Los Angeles led 3-1 and could have wrapped up Tuesday night. Should the Lakers win, the conference finals would start Saturday at the Delta Center.

Greg Foster keyed the defensive effort that held San Antonio's Triple Towers David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Will Perdue to just 35 points and 31 rebounds, their lowest totals of the series.

"Our defense stepped up, no question," Foster said. "This game wasn't like the others where we let them do what they wanted. We challenged them tonight."

Foster finished with four points, six rebounds and one blocked shot, but both teams said the undersized center was a big difference in the game.

"I have to praise the job Greg did on defense," said Karl Malone, who led the Jazz with 24 points and 13 rebounds. "He worked his tail off and made the difference for us.

"He fought the whole series. He made up his mind, and he did it."

"Foster worked hard and took us out of our games," said Robinson, who was 5-for-16 from the field. "Give him the credit he deserves."

The 6-foot-11 Foster has started at center for the Jazz all season, but his slim build and outside shooting touch make him more of a small forward. Against the Spurs, however, Foster forced the Spurs into tough shots and they scored just 20 points in the paint Tuesday.

"When we're already having trouble shooting from the perimeter, their inside defense hurts us," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It looks to me like the best team is going on, and we have some more work to do."

It appeared the Spurs had already taken their best shots at the Jazz during the first two games, which Utah won by a total of four points. Game 5 was the anticlimax to a tense, tight series.

"Since we didn't take advantage of the first two games, we just have to build from where we are compared to last year," Spurs guard Vinny Del Negro said.

Although the Jazz won four of the five games, they outscored the Spurs by only one point in the five games combined.

The Jazz, who lead the playoffs in opponents' field goal percentage and 3-point percentage, never trailed Tuesday and held the Spurs to 38.4 percent shooting and a dismal 1-for-11 on 3-pointers.

Utah, which holds homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, outrebounded the Spurs 41-39. San Antonio rmained winless in eight postseason games at the Delta Center.

The Jazz, who are just 9-11 in elimination games over the last six seasons, were in control throughout. Utah has won its last five home playoff games and is 41-6 at home this season.

An 11-4 Utah run early in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

Two games after the Jazz tied the NBA record for fewest points in a playoff game, the Spurs flirted with the 64-point mark. Del Negro's 3-pointer with 2:34 to play pushed San Antonio past the magic number, but by then the game was out of reach.

Jeff Hornacek had 19 points and Bryon Russell added 15, including a 3-for-4 effort from 3-point range. The Jazz shot 39.4 percent, including 7-for-21 by Malone, but their defense carried them to the series win.

Robinson led San Antonio with 21 points and 13 rebounds, but 11 of the points came in the fourth quarter after Utah had a comfortable lead. Duncan added 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Del Negro had 17 points.

With 4:34 to play, Robinson hit John Stockton with an elbow that knocked the Utah guard flat and bounced his head off the floor. Stockton was momentarily dazed but stayed in the game.

It was early last month that Malone knocked Robinson unconscious with an elbow and the Utah forward was suspended for one game.

Hornacek, who hit two 3-pointers during a 10-1 run late in the second quarter, scored 14 first-half points by hitting six of his first eight shots. He staked the Jazz to a 43-33 lead at halftime.

"The effort was there, but we couldn't get anything to fall early," Robinson said. "What beat us in this series was their execution and our lack of it."

Notes: Spurs forward Chuck Person guaranteed a victory to the San Antonio media on Monday. He had four points. ... After scoring just 51 points in the final three quarters of Game 4, the Spurs managed only 14 in the first quarter on Tuesday. ... After Russell hit his second 3-pointer of the game with 8:40 left in the first half, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called a 20-second timeout, which he spent berating Del Negro for not guarding Russell more closely. On Utah's next possession, Russell hit his third 3-pointer. ... Perdue was 0-for-5 from the field and scoreless in 24 minutes of play. ... Duncan, who is still bothered by a mildly sprained ankle, fouled out with 18 seconds to play. "He was less mobile today than he has been the last four games," Popovich said. "(The ankle) really swelled up on him on the plane ride here."

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