Having knocked out the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs the Warriors were expected to push Utah all the way, but a 100-87 victory at home for the Jazz in game five wrapped up a 4-1 series victory.

The Warriors led by two points at half-time on the back of some excellent shooting from Stephen Jackson, who ended the match with 16 points, and Monta Ellis, who netted 12 points.

But the Jazz fought back in the third term, with veteran Derek Fisher knocking down five crucial points and Russian superstar Andrei Kirilenko contributing seven, the home side took a four point lead into three-quarter-time.

An early three-pointer from Fisher in the final term pushed the margin out to seven points, and although the Warriors got within one point with just under four minutes remaining, Fisher, Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer iced the game for the Jazz from the free-throw line.

Boozer and Kirilenko finished with 21 points apiece, Fisher netted 20, while centre Mehmet Okur contributed a handy 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Point guard Baron David top-scored for the Warriors with 21 points, ahead of Jackson, Matt Barnes (14 points), Jason Richardson (13 points) and Ellis.

The Jazz will now face the winner of the Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals, with that series evenly poised at two games apiece.

In Michigan, the Bulls were trailing 3-1 in their series with the Pistons and facing elimination but a decisive 108-92 road victory has seen them live to fight another day.

Leading by eight points at half-time, the Bulls quickly extended the margin to 21 points by three-quarter-time with Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich doing the majority of the damage.

The closest the Pistons got in the final term was at the final buzzer, as the Bulls made sure they took the series back to Chicago for game six with a legitimate chance of winning the final two games to reach the Eastern Conference finals against either the Cleveland Cavaliers or the New Jersey Nets.

Ben Gordon top-scored for the Bulls with 28 points, Deng (20 points) and Hinrich (17 points) provided ample support, while P.J. Brown netted 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

Chauncey Billups (17 points) and Richard Hamilton (16 points) tried hard for the Pistons, but regular contributors Tayshaun Prince (11 points) and Chris Webber (nine points) had quiet matches.

Game six of the best-of-seven series will be held in Chicago on Friday morning Australian time.

NBA RESULTS
Detroit Pistons 92 Chicago Bulls 108 - Pistons lead series 3-2
Utah Jazz 100 Golden State Warriors 87 - Jazz won series 4-1