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Spurs host Jazz in Western Conference finals Game One

May 20, 2007 - 12:50 PM Utah at San Antonio 3:30 pm EDT Western Conference finals Game One

SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) - The San Antonio Spurs just finished off one of their most emotional and satisfying series victories in years. Now, they have to take on the feisty Utah Jazz.

The third-seeded Spurs will host the No. 4 Jazz in the opening game of the best-of-seven Western Conference finals on Sunday.

Tim Duncan collected 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocks and Manu Ginobili had 33 points and 11 boards as San Antonio advanced to the conference finals with a 114-106 victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game Six of their semifinal series on Friday.

In a series rife with controversy, San Antonio escaped a matchup with high-powered Phoenix highlighted by several gruesome injuries, a near bench-clearing brawl and multiple suspensions.

However, after the hard-fought series, the Spurs had just one day to prepare for Sunday's contest. In the postgame haze of their emotional Game Six victory, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich had little idea what his team would do.

"I don't know what the (heck) we're going to do," Popovich said. "I've been kind of absorbed with Phoenix, so I haven't really thought about anything yet. We respect them and model some of what we do after them. (The Jazz are) one of the best executing teams in the business. They're tough and they play for 48 minutes."

While the Jazz dispatched the Golden State Warriors in five games, it was just as tough. The upstart Warriors, who eliminated the top-seeded and heavily favored Dallas Mavericks in the opening round, battled Utah throughout.

However, the Jazz - led by emerging star Carlos Boozer - refused to back down and now will face the Spurs in the postseason for the first time since 1998 - the last time they appeared in the NBA Finals.