User Blog - ygbfkm

I dug up this old article on the Warriors/Jazz playoff game recap brawl from 1987.  Utah fan was out in force that night.  Unfortunately for them, the W's reeled off 3 straight to take the series.

 From the San Jose Mercury News archives (April 26, 1987):

WARRIORS GO DOWN FIGHTING

They left the court surrounded by angry fans and overwhelmed security people in a sea of swinging arms and kicking feet. A half-hour later, they departed the building accompanied by a police escort, all to return to a hotel just across the street.

Fun night in the Land of Osmond. A 103-100 playoff loss, a bench-emptying brawl, and enough hard feelings to make Wednesday night's rematch in Oakland a pretty interesting proposition, even though the Warriors trail the Utah Jazz 2-0 in a best-of-five series that got a lot livelier in a few explosive seconds at the Salt Palace on Saturday night.

Yes, the Warriors were the losers, but in the course of things, the Jazz also might have done them an invaluable service.

Remember all this nice talk about teamwork and togetherness? Jazz forward Karl Malone and Warriors forward Greg Ballard managed to make it all crystallize in the span of just a few seconds when Malone threw the ball at Ballard and Ballard threw it back after the final horn sounded, an exchange that touched off a bench-emptying brawl that involved both teams, Salt Palace security and a number of fans.

''The game was over, and Karl Malone threw the ball at Greg Ballard," referee Jake O'Donnell said after everyone escaped with nothing more than a few bruises. "That's what started it. If that ball isn't thrown, everybody walks away. After that happens, every player has a right to defend himself."

First, the scene: After rallying from a 21-point, second- quarter deficit to take a brief lead late in the fourth quarter, the Warriors had fallen behind 103-100 after Malone followed a Darrell Griffith miss with a follow-up slam dunk.

That left Golden State just seven seconds to set up a potential game-tying, three-point shot. Eric Floyd, the natural choice, was blanketed by Bobby Hansen and tried to pass to Ballard, who had just started a move in a different direction, and Malone came up with the steal. Ballard tried to foul Malone before time expired but couldn't get the call.

What happened then depends on whose version you care to believe.

Told of O'Donnell's assessment of the situation, Ballard said, "Yeah, that's the way I saw it, too."

But Ballard wasn't totally innocent. A videotape on display in the Jazz locker room showed Ballard had Malone in a virtual headlock in trying to get the foul, then pushed Malone away about the time the game ended. Malone then disdainfully flipped the ball at Ballard, but Ballard threw it back, only to have it deflected by the hand of Hansen.

''The game was over, and the man had me in a headlock," said Malone, who also was involved in a second-quarter confrontation with Larry Smith that resulted in a punching foul for Smith. "I'm not going to lay down for anyone."

Whatever the reason, all hell broke loose from there. Players from both benches went out in a show of force. A fan took a swing at Purvis Short, and Coach George Karl charged the fan. Security people corralled Karl, but Chris Mullin went after the fan and got in a good lick. Rookie Chris Washburn got into it with several Jazz players and had to be wrestled from the floor by Joe Barry Carroll.

And those are just the highlights. When everyone had gotten off the court and into the locker room area, O'Donnell was yelling at a Utah official about crowd control, and the Warriors were talking as though Wednesday night's Game 3 in Oakland would be a survival match in more ways than one.

''No matter what happens, we're not going to let anyone intimidate us," said forward Larry Smith. "I'm not going to let anyone kick our guys around."

The normally mild-mannered Short was sounding ready to rumble, too.

''We're not going to let them push us around," he said. "If I see a teammate get in trouble . . . I'm not gonna just stand there and watch him."

The fight merely capped off a frustrating evening for the Warriors, who came from that 21-point deficit to take a 92-90 lead after a jumper by Short with 6 minutes, 9 seconds to play. The game went back and forth the rest of the way, but the Warriors were hurt when Carroll fouled out with 3:38 remaining. Their last lead was at 100-99 after another Short jumper, but Utah got a layup from Griffith with 34 seconds left and Malone's follow to ice the game.

So it's back to Oakland, where the Warriors will try to take the first step on the way to becoming the first team to rally from 0-2 in a best-of-five series since the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1956.

''We'll be ready for them," said Karl.

GOLDEN STATE (100)

MinFG/AT/ARAPFTP

Smith 30 2-2 0-0 12 4 5 4

Higgins 27 4-5 3-4 2 2 4 11

Carroll 25 9-17 4-6 7 0 6 22

Mullin 22 2-8 2-2 2 2 1 6

Floyd 44 4-14 5-7 2 9 3 14

Short 21 5-11 7-7 1 2 1 17

Washburn 13 0-2 1-2 1 0 1 1

Teagle 26 6-11 7-8 2 1 3 19

Ballard 18 2-3 0-0 5 1 1 4

McDonald 5 0-2 0-0 1 0 1 0

Whitehead 9 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 2

Totals 240 35-76 29-36 35 21 27 100

UTAH (103)

MinFG/AT/ARAPFTP

Tripucka 12 1-3 0-0 1 1 0 2

Malone 42 6-18 10-11 13 1 3 22

Eaton 35 3-10 5-6 7 2 5 11

Green 16 3-4 2-2 2 3 1 8

Hansen 26 2-7 2-2 4 5 3 6

Iavaroni 8 1-3 2-2 7 1 2 4

Bailey 28 3-10 5-5 4 3 2 11

Stockton 27 1-3 2-2 5 5 5 4

Griffith 27 10-20 1-2 3 0 2 25

Scurry 18 5-9 0-2 3 0 4 10

Curry 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0

Totals 240 35-88 29-34 49 21 28 103

Golden State 18 28 30 24 -100

Utah 28 35 15 25 -103

FG % -- GS .461, Ut .398. FT % -- GS .806, Ut .853. Three- point goals -- GS 1-2, .500 (Floyd 1-2), Ut 4-7, .571 (Griffith 4-5, Hansen 0-1, Curry 0-1). Team rebounds -- GS 14, Ut 8. Blocked shots -- GS 5 (Carroll 4, Higgins), Ut 11 (Eaton 5, Iavaroni 2, Griffith 2, Malone, Bailey). Turnovers -- GS 18 (Carroll 5, Floyd 5, Mullin 3, Smith, Higgins, Short, Teagle, Ballard), Ut 16 (Iavaroni 3, Griffith 3, Malone 2, Green 2, Stockton 2, Eaton, Hansen, Bailey, Scurry). Steals -- GS 11 (Higgins 4, Mullin 2, Floyd 2, Short 2, Carroll), Ut 12 (Malone 4, Stockton 3, Tripucka 2, Green, Griffith, Scurry). Technical fouls -- GS Coach Karl, 10:08 3rd, Ut Hansen, 5:06 3rd. Illegal defense -- GS 1, Ut 1. A -- 12,095. T -- 2:17.

Copyright (c) 1987 San Jose Mercury News

(by the way, here is how you do the Jazz bump & grind.  Not from same game.)