SAN ANTONIO (AP) – By the time Tony Parker started a fast break with a bounce pass through Mehmet Okur’s legs, the San Antonio Spurs already were starting to do pretty much whatever they wanted against the Utah Jazz.

And the first quarter wasn’t even over yet.

Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili made a strong statement about their readiness for the Western Conference finals, putting the Spurs out to an early lead and turning it into a 108-100 victory in the series opener Sunday.

San Antonio was supposed to be fatigued playing only 39 hours after the end of a rough and tumble series with the Phoenix Suns. Or the Spurs could’ve lacked focus, either figuring they’d already passed their biggest test by knocking out the Suns or simply taking the fifth-seeded Jazz lightly, especially since they’d beaten Utah the past 16 meetings in San Antonio.

Instead, the game turned into an illustration of which team is seeking its third title in five years and which team is back in the conference finals for the first time since 1998 – although Deron Williams led a late Jazz rally that showed this upstart team is for real.

San Antonio led by 18 early in the fourth quarter, but Utah hit 10 straight baskets to get within 95-87 with a little more than 2 minutes left.

The Jazz got within seven points twice more in the final half-minute. San Antonio’s inability to put the game away can mostly be traced to nine fourth-quarter misses from the foul line.

Tim Duncan had 27 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Ginobili had 23 points and 10 assists. Parker added 21 points and six assists, although he also had six turnovers. Michael Finley and Fabricio Oberto each scored 14 points.

Robert Horry received a long, loud standing ovation when he entered for the first time after being suspended the two previous games because of his hard foul on Phoenix’s Steve Nash. He drew another big cheer the first time he went in after halftime, but didn’t score – or take a shot – in 15 minutes.

Williams scored 18 of his career-high 34 points in the fourth quarter. He also had seven rebounds and nine assists, but the Jazz will need more dishes to Carlos Boozer if they’re to even up the series in Game 2 Tuesday night.

Boozer finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, but he had only three baskets through three quarters: two putbacks of ugly misses by Okur and a tip-in of a missed free throw.

Duncan, Oberto and Horry took turns guarding Boozer. The key, though, was extra defenders smothering him in the lane and even more used to cut off Williams’ passing lanes to the All-Star forward.

Okur scored 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting, hardly playing the fourth quarter. Andrei Kirilenko was a disappointment, too, with his usually varied stat line filled this time with turnovers, travels, fouls and goaltendings.

Showing no rust from a five-day layoff since ousting Golden State, Utah led by seven in the early minutes. Then Ginobili led a 10-0 run that put the Spurs ahead. Parker’s did-you-see-that? pass under Okur – using the five-hole, in hockey parlance – to Ginobili made it 23-18.

San Antonio really cracked things open with a 13-2 run midway through the second quarter that featured an alley-oop pass from backup point guard Jacque Vaughn to backup center Francisco Elson, a textbook spin move by Duncan and a 3-pointer by Ginobili.

The Spurs made 66 percent of their shots in the first half and limited the Jazz to 29 percent. Utah scored only 36 points, its lowest first half this postseason.

The Jazz got back into it late by going to the rim. Of their 42 points in the paint, 24 came in the final period.

Notes: San Antonio had as many baskets in the second quarter (12) as Utah had through two quarters. … Utah made its first 12 free throws, then Jarron Collins missed a pair. … The Spurs missed their first five shots, then finally got a basket on a goaltending. They didn’t actually put the ball through the hoop until a basket by Duncan more than 5 minutes into the game. …This was postseason win No. 85 for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, leaving him one behind fifth place in the NBA record book. Currently in fifth: Jazz coach Jerry Sloan.

AP-ES-05-20-07 1836EDT