Frustrated by Utah’s tactical theatrics, the late Hall of Famer ignited a physical 2001 playoff battle before his Mavericks overcame the deficit to silence the Jazz.
Don Nelson spent much of his coaching career trying to find advantages before the rest of the NBA caught up. During the 2001 playoffs, he believed the Utah Jazz had found one of their own.
And he wasn't particularly thrilled about it.
Nelson, the basketball icon who passed away Sunday at 86, was coaching the Dallas Mavericks when they opened their first-round playoff series against Utah with an 88-86 loss at the Delta Center. The physical matchup resulted in five individual technical fouls, while Nelson was ejected midway through the fourth quarter.
His frustration didn't disappear afterward.
"The Jazz manipulate referees so well with their flops," Nelson said before Game 2. "They abuse the rules. It's frustrating to play against that kind of a team and it's frustrating to coach against them."
Nelson did offer Utah some credit.
"But they sure do it well," he continued. "I sure have to give them credit."
The comments added another chapter to what had already become a contentious relationship between the two teams.
Nelson and Karl Malone had been suspended following an altercation the previous season, and the physicality only increased once the teams met in the postseason. Game 2 featured 70 personal fouls, seven individual technicals, one flagrant foul and two ejections as Utah took a 2-0 series lead with a 109-98 victory.
At that point, Nelson's complaints weren't doing much to slow down the Jazz.
Dallas found another solution.
The Mavericks won Games 3 and 4 at home to force a deciding fifth game in Utah. And after trailing for nearly the entirety of Game 5, Dallas finally moved ahead when Michael Finley found Calvin Booth underneath for a layup with 9.8 seconds remaining.
The basket gave Dallas an 84-83 lead it wouldn't surrender. Finley finished with 33 points while playing all 48 minutes, and the Mavericks completed the comeback after falling behind 2-0.
That makes Nelson's comments a fascinating snapshot of both the Hall of Fame coach and that era of Jazz basketball.
Utah had spent years playing under Jerry Sloan with a veteran core headlined by Malone and John Stockton. Nelson believed part of what made the Jazz so difficult to handle was their ability to sell contact and operate within the way games were being officiated.
He certainly didn't enjoy coaching against it.
But after accusing Utah of manipulating the officials and watching his Mavericks fall one loss away from elimination, Nelson eventually found the only counterargument that really mattered.
Dallas won the next three.
