Good thing, too.

The Jazz won't earn any style points for the 100-87 victory over Golden State in Game 5 of their playoff series at EnergySolutions Arena on Tuesday night, nearly falling apart early in the fourth quarter while the Warriors tried to foul and complain their way out of the game.

But they're headed to the NBA's Western Conference finals for the first time in nine years just the same, having steadied themselves just enough - and just in time - in front of 19,911 roaring fans desperate to see their young team re-establish itself as a force following years of rebuilding twists and turns.

"It's exhilarating," the Jazz's Carlos Boozer said. "We're just so excited. The fans were going crazy, we were going crazy. I can't even put it into words right now, but we'll figure it out later."

Shaking off a worrisome start to the fourth quarter, the Jazz scored the final 12 points of the game - 10 of them on free throws - to pull away in the same fashion that earned them all three of their previous victories in the best-of-seven series.

"I thought they were sensational," Golden State coach Don Nelson said.

Now, the Jazz will wait to see whether they play the Phoenix Suns or the San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals. The teams are tied 2-2 in their best-of-seven series, meaning the Jazz could have as many as six days off before playing again.

But they just might need them all, considering the effort and energy it took to finally dispatch the Warriors in the most intense and physical game of the series, filled with hard fouls and hard feelings.

"We earned it," Boozer said.

Already belatedly assessed a flagrant foul for his shot to the head of the Jazz's Derek Fisher in Game 4 - but not suspended - Golden State's Baron Davis endured more controversial moments while failing to lift his team the way he had so many other times during its unexpected playoff run.

At one point, he tried to pull Fisher back to the floor after a collision by pulling on his shorts.

Later, his teammates all but melted down, with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes committing a series of flagrant and technical fouls at the end of the third quarter - Jackson hammered the Jazz's Dee Brown as he came up the floor, and Barnes yanked on Carlos Boozer's arm in a rebound battle - that gave the Jazz a chance to blow the game open.

But the Jazz missed six straight free throws spanning the third and fourth quarters - part of a miserable 21-for-33 performance overall - then committed five of their 25 turnovers in the first eight minutes of the final period, allowing the Warriors to pull within 88-87 with 3:39 remaining.

"That was a little bit concerning me," the Jazz's Andrei Kirilenko said. "At that point in the game, you feel like, 'Gosh, we need to make it. We need to make it.' I'm very happy we didn't give up. We put our heads down and . . . just kept playing and we won the game."

Indeed, the Jazz finally regained control, largely because the run-and-gun Warriors still could not hit a shot. They made just 6 of their 30 three-point attempts, shot just 36.4 percent - worst in the series, on both counts - and lost the rebounding battle 59-35 to allow the Jazz to parade to the foul line at the end.

Yet it wasn't until Kirilenko capped his 21-point, 15-rebound performance by stealing an inbounds pass with 1:05 remaining that the Jazz could be certain of advancing further than anybody had expected.

Amazing, too, that the Jazz did it with guard Deron Williams having his worst game of the series, making just 1 of 11 shots and scoring only two points. But Boozer added 21 and 14 rebounds, while center Mehmet Okur had 14 and 10. Davis led the Warriors with 21 points, but made just 5 of 16 shots.

"They did what they needed to do to win this series," Jackson said. "They were the better team and they showed it. Point blank."

mcl@sltrib.com

The clincher * IN SHORT - The Jazz steady themselves after a nearly disastrous fourth quarter.

* KEY STAT - The Warriors make just 6 of 30 three-point attempts.

* KEY MOMENT - When the Jazz's Andrei Kirilenko stretches out to steal a Golden State inbounds pass with 1:05 remaining, he ensures the Jazz will hold on to win.

The Jazz ended the game with a 15-4 run, capping a dominating performance in the fourth quarter in each of their four wins in the series.

Trailed by Final spurt Time

Game 1 4 18-10 6:33

Game 2 5 20-5 5:52*

Game 4 1 29-14 6:15

Game 5 Tie 17-4 6:26

*Including overtime