SALT LAKE CITY — With each drive to the basket and each fall to the floor — flop or not — Manu Ginobili made the Utah Jazz and their fans angrier and angrier.

Players and coaches complained to the refs. Fans booed, threw things and popped balloons.

All Ginobili did was keep hitting his free throws, pushing the San Antonio Spurs to a 91-79 victory last night and a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Ginobili scored 22 points, 15 coming in the fourth quarter and 11 of those coming from the foul line. San Antonio was 19 of 25 on free throws in the final period, with four attempts courtesy of technical fouls.

"I'm very proud of what we did in the fourth quarter because it was looking ugly for us," Ginobili said. "We stepped up and did a really good job."

Some of the calls Ginobili got were questionable, but the key was he forced the action after not doing "too much to get under their skin the first three quarters." The Jazz weren't about to let him get to the rim easily and wound up losing their temper as the foul calls mounted.

Utah drew four technical fouls down the stretch, leading to the ejection of coach Jerry Sloan and usually mild-mannered Derek Fisher. Jazz fans — seeing their team lose at home for the first time in eight games this postseason — showed their disgust by hurling things toward the court, appearing to hit San Antonio's Bruce Bowen with something small.

"They threw Carmex (lip balm) at me," Bowen said. "I like Carmex, but not getting it thrown at me."

Of all the blows landed in this game, the most severe is to Utah's comeback hopes. After a 26-point win in Game 3, the Jazz felt good about their chances to pull off a historic comeback but now will have to win Game 5 in San Antonio tomorrow just to bring the series back to Salt Lake City. Utah has lost 18 straight games in San Antonio dating to 1999.

"I'm sure a lot of people are counting us out in the series," said Jazz forward Carlos Boozer, who had 18 points and nine rebounds. "We have a much better feel for this team after playing them four times. All we can do is toughen up ... see if we can get one in San Antonio."

Tim Duncan had 19 points, nine rebounds, five blocks and five turnovers. He was 5 of 8 from the line in the fourth.

Fabricio Oberto had 11 points and 11 rebounds and Tony Parker had his worst game of the series with 17 points, two assists and three turnovers.

This ugly-but-effective performance — more free throws (30) than field goals (28) — puts the Spurs within a victory of reaching the NBA finals for the third time in five years, and the fourth time since 1999. San Antonio has won the title each time.

"It could've been a tied series and a whole new ballgame," Duncan said. "It's a great position to be in."

Utah's Deron Williams had 27 points and 10 assists in 38 minutes despite having lost eight pounds the past two days while fighting a stomach ailment. He had two IVs in the morning, then was so good through three quarters that pregame reminders of Michael Jordan overcoming illness to have a huge game against the Jazz in the 1997 NBA finals — made even by Sloan — no longer seemed silly.

But Williams didn't get enough help. Boozer was the only player to score more than nine points, and he didn't even make it to the foul line. Neither did center Mehmet Okur.

"We felt there were a couple of things that were questionable ... but they won the game," Williams said. "They made plays. They kept their heads. We were the ones getting the techs, not them. And that's why they prevailed."

SAN ANTONIO 21 29 13 28—91

UTAH 20 22 20 17—79

SAN ANTONIO-Bowen 3-7 0-0 7, Duncan 6-13 7-12 19, Oberto 4-8 3-4 11, Finley 4-10 3-3 13, Parker 6-19 5-7 17, Ginobili 4-10 12-15 22, Horry 1-1 0-0 2, Vaughn 0-1 0-0 0, Elson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-69 30-41 91.

UTAH-Kirilenko 3-7 3-4 9, Boozer 9-16 0-0 18, Okur 3-7 0-0 7, Fisher 2-5 5-5 9, Williams 11-21 5-7 27, Collins 0-0 1-4 1, Harpring 1-3 0-0 2, Giricek 2-4 0-0 4, Millsap 1-4 0-0 2, D.Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Brewer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-68 14-20 79.

3-Point Goals—San Antonio 5-15 (Ginobili 2-4, Finley 2-6, Bowen 1-4, Oberto 0-1), Utah 1-7 (Okur 1-2, Kirilenko 0-1, D.Brown 0-1, Williams 0-3). Fouled Out—Okur, Fisher. Rebounds—San Antonio 51 (Oberto 11), Utah 43 (Boozer 9). Assists—San Antonio 11 (Vaughn 4), Utah 18 (Williams 10). Total Fouls—San Antonio 17, Utah 27. Technicals—Utah coach Sloan 2, Giricek, Fisher 2. Ejected—Utah coach Sloan, Fisher. A—19,911 (19,911).