Yesterday was yet another example of why watching the Western Division in the playoffs has been much more enjoyable than watching the East. While the Detroit Pistons were running the Bulls into the hard wood, the Jazz and the Warriors played a fantastic shoot out that culminated in a 116-112 Jazz win.

Before hyping the Jazz up anymore, I just want to throw out that Golden State is probably the most exciting team most people have never seen. It seems to me that Don Nelson took Phoenix’s style of run and gun and boosted it on steroids. The high octane three point shooting rotation that the Warriors have is outstanding to watch. The only unattractive part of their game is that tool Andres Biedrins playing down on the low post. Has anyone else seen his attempts at free throws? Pathetic.

The Jazz, all the while leaving Matt Harpring in the game and pissing me off in the process, got help from Carlos Boozer on a put back with 17 seconds left to put the Jazz ahead. While Boozer dominated the boards, point guard Deron Williams continued to excel in just his second pro season, posting 31 points and 8 assists including 4 of 7 from three point range. Mehmet Okur also had a nice game for the Jazz, putting up 21 points including a couple patented Eastern European three point shots.

If the rest of the series is going to shape up like game one did, it could arguably be the best series of the entire playoffs. The Jazz have shown against the Rockets and now the Warriors that they can keep up and aren’t going to give up, and it’ll be interesting to see how Golden State responds. Sorry Eastern Conference, but you’ll have to do better if you want to hang with the West.