Bust out the Thin Lizzy Warrior Nation, because the boys are back in town.

Thursday night in the vaunted O-rena, the Warriors rebounded from back-to-back shoulda-coulda-wouldas in Salt Lake City to dominate the Utah Jazz, 125-105. In the must-win game 3, the Warriors not only staunched the momentum bleed of games 1 and 2, they completely reversed it. And they couldn't have done it without the uplifting energy and emotion of the hometown crowd -- and of course, Baron Davis.

Game 3 was a shining example of what a home crowd can bring to a team and a ballgame. The crowd made all the difference. From the Warriors inspired three-point shooting to the hustle stats (rebounds, steals, turnovers-forced), to the shock and awe generated by fans that have been denied for too long.

On the "Warriors Roundtable" radio show after the game, Warriors announcer Jim Barnett remarked that he felt the O-rena crowd was worth 10-15 points a game, maybe more. Clearly it was worth at least 20 points Thursday night.

Oh sweet mercy! Eat your heart out John Starks, the Beard's hammer toss on Ivan Drago is now the gold standard for NBA playoff jams. Photos from sfgate.com and espn.com.

The crowd gave the Warriors what they didn't have in Utah -- energy and swagger. And that energy led to better defense, improved bench play, and even some goddamn rebounds. In every phase of the game, the Warriors played far better than they did in Utah.

But it didn't totally start out that way. The Dubs looked scattered, adrift, and even a bit concerned in first quarter. After falling behind early, they laid a 15-0 run on the Jazz to go up 19-7, but had relinquished the lead by the closing seconds of the quarter. That is, until a clutch three by the Beard (not this, ahem, Beard) as time expired reminded the Warriors what they are all about -- balls. From that point on, it was all Warriors.

Or maybe the turning point was when Stephen Jackson, heretofore the blood and guts (to Baron's heart and soul) of this Warriors team, went to the bench at 4:08 in the first quarter with three fouls. It seemed like a crippling blow at the time, but after a couple of nervous minutes, the Ws gathered themselves and started to grind out a more controlled chaos en route to a 40-point second quarter that built up a 21-point halftime lead. His passion is what makes him a great player, but it's also what gets him in trouble. Tonight, Jax's timeout turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Warriors because it forced coach Don Nelson to go to his bench.

After their two-game Wasatch holiday, both Monta Ellis and Mickael Pietrus were back in the mix. Ellis still looked wobbly, tending to go with the 20-foot fall-away jumper as his first option far too often, but managed 10 points in 21 minutes and brought another shift of fresh legs and dogging D to the Warriors attack. MP3 nailed a couple of key three-point shots and distinguished himself with 14 points and some great hustle plays. Of course, he was 8-9 on free throws on a night when the Warriors win by 20.

Also reappearing in Oaktown was Andris Biedrins. After getting abused like a public toilet in Union Square by Carlos Boozer, Matt Harpring, Mehmet Okur and the rest of them corn-fed Utah boys up in Salt Lake, Beans scored a few points, grabbed a few rebounds, and played a little D. That's all we ask.

To be fair, Biedrins is just a go-fer in Nelson's freeform offense. He really has no other function on this team except to rebound. There are no plays for him and nobody even looks for him on offense. He's kind of like that fifth guy in a pickup game that joins a team of four who all know each other. It's like the rest of the team told him, "don't ever shoot," because even on offensive rebounds when he gets the ball two feet from the hoop, he's immediately passing it out to the perimeter for a long jump shot. He's not even looking at the hoop. After two straight games of completely ignoring the poor guy, Nelson finally ran a couple of plays for him Thursday night. In fact, the guards actually looked for Biedrins a few times -- and every time they did, the big fella made a great move to catch the ball and converted almost every time (5-7). In addition to his 13 points, he pulled down 13 boards and played effective defense on Boozer.

The D was pretty flimsy up in the SLC, but with the O-rena crowd fanning the flames, the Warriors were back to playing the frenetic, hustling, smothering D that frustrated and stifled Dallas. For example, in games one and 2, they fronted Utah bruiser Carlos Boozer, and he went off with a flurry of easy lobs, dunks, and layups. In game 3, the Warriors came with double and triple teams on Boozer, holding him to a quiet 19 points on just 10 shots. The numbers may seem solid, but Boozer was a ghost in game 3. That's what's called a defensive adjustment.

Double up solid D with nitrous offense and the result is usually going to be favorable. The Dubs tied an NBA playoff record by bagging 11 three-pointers in the first half and 15 for the game. Why the three-point bombadierage? Baron's penetration (that's what Jessica Alba said [can we get a rim shot, please?]).

The second half was academic, just an exercise in concentration. The Jazz never got it closer than 15. Even Adonal Foyle got to play. POB? Nope.

The Warriors shot 53 percent from the field tonight because their shots were wide open due to the Beard's penetration. First he put game 2 hero Derek Fisher on the bench with two fouls just four minutes into the game, then sat game 1 hero Deron Williams down with two fouls at the 5:34 mark in the first. There was no stopping him after that. The Diddy just went off, not only with hot shooting, but also with great D and a host of mind-boggling spins, jukes, and shake-n-bakes from the point. Let's see, Baron's line: 32 points, 9 assists, 6 steals, 4 rebounds. Smells like MVP to us.

And then there was the dunk.

With 2:48 left in the game and the Warriors safely up by 20, Baron whirled past Deron Williams to the baseline, then went up high and strong with his back to the rim, took a hit from Andrei Kirilenko, hung in the air for an extra second, and rammed home a one-handed flush with massive, massive authority. Nasty. Filthy. Vicious. AK-47 been posterized, big time. Diddy did get a technical for popping his jersey after the dunk, but after a dunk like that you gotta give it up to the gods of adrenal surge.

Baron's dunk symbolizes this Warriors team. He took the ball right to Kirilenko, who has 16 blocks in this series and six inches on Baron. It's about fearless confidence. That's the philosophy that drives Baron and this team. When ESPN's Lisa Salters asked him after the game why he thought he could dunk it over AK after all the shots he'd blocked in the series thus far, Biddy replied, "you just gotta believe." Damn.

But back to that home court advantage. ESPN's onscreen sound meter had the crowd getting up to 112 decibels with sustained periods of 106 decibels. There were a few empty seats at tip-off, but when the Dubs needed a lift later in the first quarter, 20,655 freakin' fanatics had their backs. As we said before, the emotion in the O-rena is once in a lifetime. It is an emotion borne of suffering and the virulence of the O-rena crowd is in direct proportion to their pent-up angst. Let it burn Warrior Nation, let it burn.

How special is the O-rena? For the regular season, the Warriors were 30-11 at home, compared to 12-29 on the road. And they haven't lost at home since March 26 -- that's nine straight games, including four playoff games.

This was the Warriors first second-round home playoff win since 1987 -- that's 20 years. That stat should serve as a reminder to all the "Nellie is a genius" folks that even in the glory years of Run-TMC, Nellie's Warriors never won a single second-round home game, let alone a second-round series.

That could all be about to change though.

Utah squeaked out two wins in the SLC, either or both of which could have gone to the Warriors with a made three here or an additional free throw there. But in Oakland last night, the Warriors dominated. Utah never dominated the Warriors in Utah. There is no question or concern about the Warriors ability to hold serve at home in this series. Game 5 in Utah is winnable for the Ws, and possibly imperative. Game 7 on the road in the NBA playoffs is not where the Warriors want to be, but if it comes to it, we have faith that this Warrior team has the cajones to come up with the win.

First things first though. Let's take care of Utah in game 4, Sunday at 6:00 p.m. in the O-rena (TNT, KNBR 680), then we'll game plan for how to take game 5 in Salt Lake. For now, it's on to Sunday, on to victory!