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Here's todays sports news more ›

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.

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We were pretty much wrong about everything.

Last night in Salt Lake City, in game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series, it was the Utah Jazz who had the energy and it was the Warriors who were a step behind. The Jazz looked confident; the Warriors looked hesitant. The Jazz ran the Warriors off the court. Matt Harpring done brought it. And the Jazz backcourt held its own behind the spirited play of Deron Williams. Did we leave anything out? Oh yeah, the Jazz didn't lose by 20, they, uh, won, 116-112.

Game 1 was a back-and-forth nailbiter (16 lead changes and 21 ties) that went right down to the quick. And like a bamboo shoot to the quick, it hurts. The Ws fought hard all night and had a chance to take the lead on a three-pointer by Stephen Jackson with eight seconds to play, but the shot clanked and so did the Warriors fortunes in game 1.

That huge farting noise you heard last night wasn't Mark Cuban sitting on a whoopee cushion, it was the sound of the air going out of the Warriors playoff fantasy balloon.

In a game that featured sloppy ballhandling, poor shooting, and bad behavior by our beloved hometown cagers, the Dallas Mavericks regained their basketball footing and reclaimed the psychological advantage in their opening-round playoff series with the Warriors.

Oh good grief, Warriors.

Spurs 126, Warriors 89. And it wasn't nearly that close.

Coming off Sunday night's agonizing loss to their nemesis, the Lakers, the Warriors needed a strong showing. But last night the Spurs exposed the Warriors for what they are: a second-tier basketball club that's not quite ready for prime time.

The good news is the Warriors scored 135 points last night in Memphis against the Grizzlies. Bet you can't see where this one is going. Yup. The bad news is that they gave up 144 points.

As the score indicates, the game was a track meet. It was also a tug-of-war match, with exciting bursts of alternating runs all night. Back and forth the entire game, both teams made runs, then got run, then made more runs. This was not the usual NBA game where one team jumps out to an early lead only to blow it in the fourth quarter and lose, with everything in between just dead air. Tonight there were 18 lead changes and 10 ties. Maybe it was the ball.

But in the end, the Warriors shooting abandoned them at the critical point in the game and the Griz made the final, close-out run.