I cannot look at this picture without getting emotional.

I don’t know if I can blog about this game. Really. So many things happened, I’m not sure if I have the words to describe them all.

First you had two completely BS calls against Deron Williams in the first minute of the game. I wrote yesterday that I thought the Warriors would go right at us to try to get us in foul trouble. I didn’t expect the refs to HELP them do it, not on our home floor. Made D-Will a non-factor in the first half. If he gets more minutes, it might not have ever been as close as it ended up.

Then you had the absolutely terrifying moment when Memo landed on Dee Brown’s neck. Dee’s status is still uncertain, but there doesn’t seem to be permanent damage. Dee has come up huge in this series so far, and we are all praying for him to recover quickly. Anyone who has ever met or interviewed Dee (I have) knows how friendly and happy a person he is — just a great human being. Hurry back, brother. (Thanks also to the classy folks at Golden State of Mind for their best wishes.)

So bereft of all three points guards on our roster, who do the Jazz turn to? The completely transformed Andrei Kirilenko, who switches over to “point forward” to handle the offense, promptly hands out four assists and allows Paul Millsap to go INSANE on the offensive glass. (Can anyone tell me how he fell so far into the second round? ANYONE?) AK-47’s all-around game allowed the Jazz to hang in despite D-Will’s absence.

Enter Derek Fisher, who came straight from the street into the locker room, dressed, and walked on the floor without warming up at all, to an utterly spine-tingling ovation. It’s been said better elsewhere, but this team would be lost without Derek Fisher. I was upset that he played so much in the Houston series when it didn’t seem like he could guard Tracy McGrady. But he has always produced when it matters most, and last night was no different. Forcing Baron Davis to step out of bounds (although I never saw an appreciable replay of how close that call actually was) possibly saved the game for the Jazz. And his 3-pointer in overtime, his one and only shot of the game, was just as huge.

Fisher’s leadership this year has been immeasurably important. He’s one of the real “good guys” in this league (listen to the respect Magic and Charles had for him on the post-game show) and the fact that he took the time to talk about his daughter’s condition on national television, to warn others about the same disease, is just indicative of the kind of person he is.

My co-worker at the newspaper (who knows nothing about sports and doesn’t really care) remarked, “It’s like watching a movie — this whole game is like that.” But no Hollywood director could have scripted something like this. We all are lucky to have seen it.

Okay, now back to reality.

The Jazz know better than anyone else that holding serve at home for a 2-0 series lead doesn’t automatically mean a series victory (see also: Rockets, Houston). And at this point, the Warriors have the toughest home court in the country (and I have to say, the loudest fans). It’s going to be extremely difficult to get a win down there.

(Side note: The powder blue shirts looked amazing last night, but we’re definitely bandwagon-jumpers with that idea. But on the other hand, it’s not like Golden State invented it either. Remember those black WITNESS shirts at the Q last year? And Miami’s white-out during last year’s playoffs? It’s hardly an original promotion.)

The Jazz could also just as easily be down 0-2 in this series. If Pietrus or B-Diddy make just ONE more free throw, the game ends in regulation. So there’s not a whole lot to celebrate here, and there’s no reason to start talking Spurs or Suns yet. We have a HERCULEAN task ahead, to try and win in Oakland. Let’s do it.
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Layton Shumway is the copy chief for Brigham Young University’s Daily Universe. You can reach him at lss83@byu.net.