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With his team's season on the line, Quin Snyder skipped the pregame theatrics.
He didn't think his players would even know who Knute Rockne was, and he wasn't going to harken to Hoosiers, either.
"We don't have Jimmy Chitwood," the Utah Jazz coach had said. "We don't have a triple fence; we have a few screening actions."
There would be no Hollywood beginning Monday night, just as there would be no Hollywood ending. The underdog Jazz stayed underdogs, crushed by the reality that comes with playing an imperfect game against the enormously talented Golden State Warriors.
The Jazz's season is over after four straight double-digit losses to the Warriors, the last, a 121-95 defeat in Salt Lake City.
"They're a historically great team," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said after scoring 25 points in his team's season finale. "You have to be almost perfect every possession or else they turn it into a [big run]. You can't have mental lapses against a team like this."
And, in the end, the Jazz had far too many of them over their four postseason meetings with the Warriors.
With his team's season over, Hayward walked off the court at Vivint Smart Home Arena to fans chanting his name — "Gor-don Hay-ward" — in appreciation of his first All-Star season and in hopes that the expected free agent will be back in a Jazz uniform next fall.
"That was really cool," Hayward said. "Done a lot of growing up here in Salt Lake City. For them to stick with me and stick with us through the downs that we had, it means a lot. I have nothing but love for this community. That was pretty special."
On the podium after the game, center Rudy Gobert was able to spread some hope for the future.
"I'm excited for next year," he said.
But Hayward, Gobert and the rest of the Jazz would have certainly preferred to be packing for Game 5 in Oakland on Tuesday rather than cleaning out their lockers and heading off in separate directions.
On Monday, another slow start put Utah in an early hole. While Hayward struggled to find his shooting touch, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson splashed the nets for Golden State. The Warriors had a 10-point lead midway through the first quarter and a 20-point advantage before the period had ended.
"I wish we could have started the game better," Snyder said. "But what happened happened. We got blitzed."
What came next, Snyder thought, was emblematic of his team's season.
"Utah fought and clawed," Warriors coach Mike Brown said. "Next thing you know it's a game."
The crowd of 19,000-plus fans, decked out in gold and blue and green, roared as forward Derrick Favors dunked on Golden State's Draymond Green. Jazz point guard Dante Exum, meanwhile, scored 11 first-half points as Utah trimmed the Warriors' lead down to eight points in the first half, and six points in the third quarter.
But Golden State was too good in the end. Curry scored 30 points and Green had a triple-double as the Warriors kept the Jazz at arm's length before pulling away down the stretch, and advancing to the Western Conference finals for the third straight year.
The Jazz, meanwhile, have seen the end of their most successful campaign in seven years. They won 51 games, despite an onslaught of injuries, took the Clippers to seven games and won that first-round series on the road, advancing to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2010.
"We had a really good year," Snyder said. "That's a really good team. I couldn't be more proud coaching this group."
After Monday's defeat, however, the Jazz coach said he wanted a night with his thoughts before fully being able to enjoy the successes or turning his attention to a pivotal offseason ahead.
The Jazz will have the summer to mull over the good and bad. And there may be benefits to having run into the Warriors buzz saw.
"You see where you have to be at if you want to be a championship-contending team," Hayward said.
The Jazz believe they took strides in that direction over the course of the regular season, their first-round win over Los Angeles and even during their four-game sweep against the Warriors.
But that won't satisfy them entirely.
"For me, personally, I'm still going to go home not happy," Hayward said. "My goal is to win the whole thing. That wasn't accomplished this year. I think I took a lot of steps forward this year. I think there are still a lot of steps to go. …
"We have to be hungry for more. You definitely can't be satisfied with winning one playoff series and getting to the second round. At least I'm not. I'll go into the offseason hungry for more."
Twitter: @aaronfalk —
Storylines
• Gordon Hayward scored a team-high 25 points in the Jazz's loss to the Warriors.
• Stephen Curry scored a game-high 30 points for the Warriors and forward Draymond Green finished with a triple-double.
• Utah wraps up its first playoff run in five years with a series win over the Clippers, and its first trip to the conference semifinals since 2010.