Preview - Utah Jazz @ New Orleans

Once again, this game will trancend any Williams/Paul matchup.

With Dallas blowing out the Suns right now, the Jazz are very much in danger of falling to the 8 spot in the West and having to face the Lakers in the first round.  A loss tonight and we'd be in a tie with the Mavs going into Wednesday's night game @ Dallas.

Some quick notes about the nuclear fallout from the Wolves game now that I'm sober.

• What kind of sick mind do the basketball gods have to mock the Utah Jazz by having one of the worst road teams in the NBA get a win in one of the hardest places to do that?  I cruel part is that the Jazz would do almost anything for a road win at this point and they get slapped by fate right in the face when someone else does it that doesn't even need it.
• Just saw the first Jazz "Where will amazing happen this year?" commercial with Deron on the fast break alley-ooping it to AK in the Rocket series last year.  Gives me a glimpse of hope.
• What a waste of a game.  We all know that the Jazz should have won.  No excuse.  But in another slap to the face, Deron has a huge game that is wasted.  And every other team that the Jazz needed to lose that night did.  We couldn't take advantage of that.
• Deron hasn't been coming out at the 3:00 minute mark in the 1st and 3rd.  Instead, Knight has been starting the 2nd and 4th.
• Where were all of those made free throws the previous games?
• If you watched Friends at all, Phoebe's mom use to end movies right before the bad endings like in Ole Yeller.  I would recommend watching any Jazz games like that.  Just turn it off late in the third when the Jazz are winning and tell yourself that's how it ended.
• The zone by Utah killed Minny in parts but they didn't go to it at the end of the game.

So onto the Hornets... 

Despite our recent putrid play, we sit just 1 1/2 game back of New Orleans right now.  The Hornets haven't lived up to expectations this year.  Part of that was due to injuries.  The start of the season wasn't that good for them despite having everyone.

They also didn't really raise the white flag on the season, but they were willing to take a hit by dealing Tyson Chandler. That trade got cancelled per OKC's request and now Chandler has been out with a bad ankle.

So while I'm not expecting this, facing the Hornets at NOLA right now isn't as bad as it could be.

What the Jazz need to do, if they haven't already, is head down to a smoothie place in NOLA and get their favorite one and make sure to get a confidence booster and a shot of the toughness powder.

Due to only playing the Hornets three times this year, the Jazz have already won the season series should we end in a tie with NO.  We've had the good fortune of playing the Hornets both times while they were playing the back end of a b2b.  Both of those time they had come off of tough losses to the Lakers.

They're coming off their own letdown, losing to the Warriors the same night the Jazz lost to the Peskies.  Neither team has much traction right now.

I don't know what else the team could need for motivation tonight.  If there's not a sense of urgency tonight, then we might as well start making vacation plans.

Game Thread coming in about 1/2 hour.

Other blogs:

• Hornets 24/7
• At the Hive