Old-school Jazz coach keeps on teaching

There’s another coach in this Golden State-Utah series, a guy who’s one of the best ever -- and certainly the best who never received a coach-of-the-year award.

Golden State’s Don Nelson has three of those trophies. He has the praise of his players and the gratitude of NBA fans who were sick of the status quo thanks to a freewheeling style that made stars of castoffs and a mockery of NBA standards.

But Nelson doesn’t have the lead in this series. That belongs to Jerry Sloan and the Utah Jazz, who went up three games to one in the Western Conference semifinals thanks to a vintage performance that led to a 115-101 victory Sunday.

Sloan’s so old school he ought to be covered in ivy. He’s the longest-tenured coach in pro sports, with 19 consecutive seasons on the job. And he’s the only head coach who still eats his pregame meals in the media dining room.

It might not have a catchy name such as “Nellieball” and it might not resemble a fireworks show, but Sloan’s stuff works in the playoffs. It’s why he has coached his team to the NBA Finals twice (consecutive losses to the Chicago Bulls), while Nelson has never made it out of his conference.

You know the drill. The point guard running things and the power forward scoring and rebounding. Just cut and paste Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer’s names for John Stockton and Karl Malone, and you can probably print out some old box scores from years past. Throw in Derek Fisher, who scored 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, in the role of Jeff Hornacek.

The Jazz used patience and execution to get what they wanted on offense, namely a 50-32 advantage in points in the paint. On defense, they always had an extra defender ready to keep Baron Davis from driving through the lane for any acrobatic layups or monster dunks. He finished with only 15 points.

As a result, they handed Golden State its first home loss in five playoff games at Oracle Arena, which had become a yellow caldron of noise.

The Jazz might not look as if they’re having as much fun as the Warriors, but they’re winning more games doing things Sloan’s way.

“You look at what he’s done, he’s done everything but win the championship,” said Williams, who had 20 points and 13 assists. “And if it wasn’t for a guy named Michael Jordan, he probably would have won a championship. Two of them, maybe. He knows what he’s doing. Our whole team has bought into it, and we trust what he’s trying to do. We know for us to be successful, we have to play our type of basketball.”

Part of it was NBA basics. The Jazz won the game at the free-throw line, making 37 of 43 shots (86%) while the Warriors were 21 for 34 (62%). And in a league of superstars, Boozer played like one, with 34 points and 12 rebounds.

Maybe we need to go ahead and say Boozer is a superstar, given the way he outplayed Yao Ming in the opening-round victory over Houston, and given these words from Nelson: “He’s a major star. When he’s healthy, he’s as good as anybody out there.”

Fisher even likened Boozer to Shaquille O’Neal when he described the way the Jazz made Boozer a factor after Golden State held him to a quiet 19 points in Game 3.

“We made a conscious effort to get the ball inside to Carlos,” Fisher said. “There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. Just because they were fronting him at times or bringing two guys toward him, we had to slow ourselves down and get the ball into our best player. Same thing we had to do when I was in L.A. playing with Shaq. You don’t let a team take your best player out of the game.”

Only six of Utah’s 41 shots in the first half came from outside the lane. Meanwhile, the Jazz made the Warriors take their time at the other end of the court, a success in its own right. After Golden State chucked threes at will in Game 3, the Jazz contested the perimeter, forcing extra dribbles or passes.

After hitting shots from San Mateo to Sausalito in Game 3, the Warriors connected on only 12 of 39 (31%) in Game 4. Utah was a more efficient four for eight, with three of the four coming in a 40-point fourth quarter that opened up what had been a taut game throughout.

Sloan’s only complaint was that the Jazz committed 21 turnovers. (Williams was so disgusted with his seven turnovers that he tore the number out of his locker room stat sheet).

But mostly he was proud of his team for its fortitude, especially since it consists mostly of young players.

“You have to stick with what you’re doing,” Sloan said. “We’re not able to change our whole structure. We’re not equipped to do that.”

Actually, the players probably can change. Who wouldn’t want to play Nellieball? It’s hard to imagine tough old Jerry Sloan changing, though.

And after this game, why would he?

*

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.