Utah Jazz Outgun Phoenix Suns 124-115 - Arenas/Crittenton Not Involved
by Basketball John on Jan 26, 2010 9:56 AM MST
in Game Recaps
14 comments
=Ever play NBA Live or 2K on fast and then try to play back at regular speed? That's what it's going to be like for the Jazz when they play Portland tomorrow night after having played the Suns. Not only that, but if you've played on hard mode, the computer will make anything that they throw up at the basket.
Goran Dragic was the computer last night. He was unconscious in the second quarter. After the Jazz had built a 17-5 lead on layups and dunks, they went to taking jumpers and went ice cold. The Suns of course are never out of it with their offense. They came roaring back late in the first and tied it up at 19. Then Dragic checked in and took over.
He scored the Suns' next 10 points spanning the first and second quarters. He was 4-4 from downtown and 5-6 overall. Add to that 5 free throws and 3 assists and you have the makings of a 19-point quarter for the Dragic. If there was someone that didn't want the half to end, it was Goran as he nailed back-to-back threes to close out the quarter.
When the carnage was over, the Suns had scored 45 points by going 8-11 from the arc and 16-21 overall. The Jazz found themselves down by 11, 69-58. 69 damn points. Unbelievable.
The Jazz didn't have a bad quarter offensively. They scored 35 points themselves on some pretty good shooting. If you're shooting 50%+ from the field and have 58 points at the break, you have to feel pretty good about yourself. Granted, this was against the Suns' D, but you're winning most of those games.
Thankfully for the Jazz, Dragic didn't start the third quarter on the floor. If I were him, I wouldn't have gone into the locker room at halftime. I would have stayed on the floor and kept jacking up threes to stay hot.
I really didn't think the Jazz had it in them to come back. They hadn't shown any sign of being able to stop the Suns. Even if the Jazz shot lights out, Phoenix was going to have an answer. Thankfully the nitro for the Suns started to burn out. Utah "held them to only 27 points in the third quarter while the Jazz had 33. After scoring 45 points in the second quarter alone, the Suns only had 46 points the rest of the way as they managed only 19 points in the fourth quarter. That's what Dragic had in the second by himself.
When it ended, the Jazz walked off the court spent. For best games of the year, this one moves into the top spot for now. It slightly edges the Gaines game only because the level of excitement was high for almost the entire game. The Cavs game had the best 30 seconds this year, but this one kept my adrenaline going for the entire second half.
There's a lot that I'm missing and not writing about because there was so much in this game. Let's try to sort out all of the individual accolades.
Wesley Matthews
He may be playing CJ Miles right out of a job. Remember, Matthews is a rookie and getting crunch-time minutes under Sloan. Not only is he getting minutes, but he's becoming a difference maker in games. He had two steals late. The first game with just under 6 minutes and the game tied at 106. He stole a Steve Nash pass, stumbled a bit, but recovered to get the Jazz back into their set. AK made two free throws to give the Jazz their first lead since the first quarter. Then he stole the ball from Dragic later and went to the foul line as a result. The end of the third and the fourth quarter belonged to Matthews in part as the Jazz went on their run to eliminate the 17-point deficit after he checked in. On the offensive side, he had 15 of his 21 in that same span including a couple of three pointers. Can't say enough about this kid.
Andrei Kirlenko
AK will save us all. We've been talking about the Jazz needing a veteran presence. Is Andrei quietly assuming that role? I've said before that he seems to be the only one unphased when things are down or calls aren't going Utah's way. He doesn't get rattled. He just puts his head down and keeps playing. He's been playing like the 1999-2004 AK that we all know he can still be. He had 25 points last night and he too was instrumental in bringing the team back.
I would love nothing more than to see AK be a silent leader on this team.
Carlos Boozer
Beast man on the boards. He had 21 & 20 helping to make sure that any shots that the Suns did miss didn't get a second chance at going in. He was also the zone buster for the Jazz if you can believe that. When the Suns went to the zone, that's when the Jazz started struggling on offense. They went 0 for their first 9 from three-point land. When the Suns went to the zone again in the third, it was Boozer hitting mid-range Js that kept them honest and kept the Jazz in the game. With the coaches voting for the All-star game ending today, this game might have an impact for those forward positions.
Deron Williams
It's nice when Deron has 18 & 11 and it's not even close to being the top story line of the night.
Mehmet Okur
When is Yeliz due? Honestly. Someone needs to find out. She needs to have that baby so that Memo can get out of the funk that he's in.
Other notes
This was the loudest I've seen the ESA in a long time. It got loud for the Cavs game, but people were out of their seats in the third quarter yelling and screaming. Welcome back ESA.
So do we need to wait another 5-7 games to determine if the Jazz are a different team? Maybe not. One things I noticed last night that I've never seen happen, is Deron call everyone in for a huddle after the Suns got fouled. They might be coming together finally and instead of looking for one person to be a leader, they're counting on each other. They look like they trust each other and that's probably the biggest reason for their success.
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The beard
If you watched on tv slcdunk.com got some tv time thanks to a great beard photo shop. Well done who ever did it. this should be the story of the day.
by neds on Jan 26, 2010 11:41 AM MST reply actions 0 recs
I saw that later.
I wish I could claim that but it was posted by someone else that used it on their site. I’ll have to track it down.
by Basketball John on Jan 26, 2010 11:59 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs
I hope
that we don’t try to trade anyone. I know the deadline is coming up and perhaps I’m foolish for thinking it but…. this team seems to be gelling together. Even more impressive they are able to take hits and not get the air knocked out of them.
Against the Spurs, the Jazz screamed into a decent lead in the first and then went ice cold and found themselves down. That usually would have been the end of game. The jazz just usually don’t rebound from stuff like that. They fought back and swept the spurs on the road though.
Then lastnight, at home, they were owning the suns in the first. Then all hell broke loose from the 3 point line. How many teams can fight back and WIN a game where the other team makes 17-30 from the three?!
I dunno what the hell is goin on but don’t break up this team yet……
P.S. Bye Bye CJ.
For the Love of the Game
by ForTheLove on Jan 26, 2010 1:06 PM MST reply actions 0 recs
Sloan
Last night showed something from sloan I’ve always wanted to see. We were rolling along then fell behind. He subbed players that were not playing well C.J. The nice thing is he kept subbing after a few minutes to find somebody ready to play. Finally he stayed with the men who were winning the game. I like Brewer, CJ, and Korver but Mathews out hustled them last night. I hope that Sloan continues with subbing after a few 4-6 minutes if the guy on the floor is not playing well. This will force them to play with there best effort and won’t let teams get to hot.
by neds on Jan 26, 2010 1:54 PM MST reply actions 0 recs
DWill/Boozer/AK/Millsap/Matthews
More of this lineup, please.
by bdunc8 on Jan 26, 2010 3:02 PM MST reply actions 0 recs
bdunc8 is a genius
Dwill/FESS/Boozer/AK/Matthews
More of this one too
Less of any lineup with Okur in it
The Orioles Suck!
Kill Korver!
by bucimislover on Jan 26, 2010 4:16 PM MST reply actions 0 recs
Okur is due in February....for a trade.
I am just playing around. But here are all the players we could possibly get for Okur.
Kirk Hinrich, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Tayshaun Prince, Corey Maggette, Darius Miles and Kenny Thomas.
The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.
by clarkpojo on Jan 26, 2010 7:38 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs
I'd love
Corey Maggette…. I doubt we could get him though
For the Love of the Game
by ForTheLove on Jan 26, 2010 10:18 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs
Oops
Hit the wrong button.
I doubt we could get him though and he doesn’t really fill a need. If we’re going to dump Okur we need a defensive bigman.
Sounds crazy, but i think i’d love an Okur/ Kevin Love trade.
For the Love of the Game
by ForTheLove on Jan 26, 2010 10:21 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs
I don't know if the Warriors would want Okur, but Maggette is definitely available.
It has now been reported that the Warriors are in cost cutting mode and would love to dump long term contracts even for little in return. I think Warriors would do that deal, I just don’t think the Jazz would.
And as far as not being a need, I think he is a big need. He is a go-to scorer who would carry the bench offensively for times when they seem like they need a punch. We have been better this season at scoring off the bench, but Maggette would get our team into the penalty so quickly that it would benefit our offense a lot. I mean, do we count on Okur for defense? No. We look for his offense. So Maggette would give better offense than Okur.
Just my thoughts.
The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.
by clarkpojo on Jan 27, 2010 12:43 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs
Hah!
I’m a Blazer Fan, but as I was looking over the Yahoo! analysis of the upcoming game, I saw this on the side bar. I laughed at the title. Just wanted to throw out props, you made my day slightly brighter with the Arenas/Crittenton Not Involved Comment.
With all the injuries that have accumalted in 2009, I think we need some Boomtho in 2010. Sign Me Some Rod Benson. Benson+Shavlik=Best Bench in the NBA.
by Jeremiah S on Jan 26, 2010 9:23 PM MST reply actions 0 recs
CJ is done
I don’t know what this organization sees in CJ. One good game in every 6 or 7 games won’t cut it for me. If CJ isn’t going to get it after 4 years with the Jazz, he won’t ever get it.
Keep playing Matthews!
Whitewater In The Morning
by neff on Jan 26, 2010 10:52 PM MST reply actions 0 recs
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