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What Nelson also did not know was how hard Barnes had worked on his shooting last year in Philadelphia. That season Barnes worked with shooting coach Buzz Braman to remove the hitch in his jump shot. Once free from Philadelphia, Barnes continued to focus his attention on becoming a more lethal perimeter player.

"I owe that to [Cheeks] too," says Barnes sarcastically. "The stuff he did to me lit my fire. Whenever I was tired, I thought of him."

Whatever the motivation, the work seems to have paid off. Barnes has been an invaluable asset to the Warriors in the postseason both on offense (he is averaging 11.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in eight postseason games) and defense (he has guarded All-Stars Dirk Nowitzki and Carlos Boozer with varying degrees of success). His perseverance is reflected in his choice of body art: "Believe" is tattooed to the right side of his neck in cursive letters.

Nelson clearly believes in Barnes, a faith that is reinforced by Barnes' big play in, well, big moments. In the final two minutes of Game 2, Barnes came up with a key offensive rebound, took a charge from Boozer and hit a clutch jump shot from the top of the key.

Still, Barnes sees plenty of room for improvement, which is why we shouldn't expect that first bus to leave without him. That is, of course, unless it doesn't leave early enough.

"I'm not even a first bus guy, I'm a cab guy," says Barnes with a laugh. "Some nights I can't get here fast enough."

Courtside Confidential

Gotta love Nelson. As Jazz owner Larry Miller passed by him on the floor, Nelson pointed to Miller's protruding elbow and exclaimed "I've got one of them!" A few minutes later Nelson held court with the media where he called the Warriors rebounding problems "unfixable" while acknowledging he had an interest in the Sacramento Kings job last summer. Say what you want about Nellie, but there are few better entertainers in the league today.

How good are the Jazz at home? Utah has the fourth-best home record (73-31) in NBA playoff history, trailing only Chicago, Boston and the Lakers. Unfortunately, they are equally as bad on the road where they are 25-72.