While You Were Sleeping, Melo Helped the Jazz.

Just two other games last night in the association that impacted the Jazz....

The Good

New York Knicks 110 @ Memphis Grizzlies 108

The Knicks nearly blew this one.  They had a 14-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, 96-82.  They didn't score a point until 7:30 left in the game.  Even then, they were still up 8.  With a little over 3 minutes to go in the game, they were up 10 which was their last bucket of the game until Carmelo Anthony hit the game-winner with .5 to go.  That gap in scoring allowed the Grizzlies to go on a 10-0 run to close out the game.

So for one night you can thank Anthony for making a shot and saving his team from an embarrassing defeat.  You will have all kinds of opportunities to let your team down in the playoffs Melo.

• Posting and Toasting
• Straight Outta Vancouver

The Ugly

Dallas Mavericks 92 @ New Orleans Hornets 93

Damnit Dallas.  This is the second time in three games that you've hosed the Jazz.  The second best team in the west has fallen to the undermanned Grizzlies and now the undermanned Hornets.  

Damnit Dallas.  They had this game and gave up an 8-0 run in the final minute of the game.  Tyson Chandler (775 FT on the season) missed two free-throws that could have sealed it.  Instead, Jarret Jack was able to bait Jason Kidd and get a foul call on a three-point attempt. He made all three and Dirk missed a jumper at the end of the game.  Mavs Moneyball doesn't like these close losses for the Mavs,

Looking on the bright side, the Mavericks have won 19 out of their last 22 games. The three losses came by a combined three points. The problem is that the three losses have been due to blowing double-digit leads in each game. The Mavericks desperately need to maintain their focus to maintain these leads. If things do not change, their playoff run could be shorter than expected.

And from At The Hive,

It was an implausible victory, but the Hornets did it through excellent rebounding, solid defense and a bunch of equally implausible made shots. Yet for much of the game it seemed unlikely that the Hornets would be able to get over the hump. Every time the Hornets got close the Mavs would push the lead back to 6 or 8 points. On the other hand, despite the Mavericks pushing the lead to double digits on a couple of occasions, the deficit was never unmanageable. As is usually the case, offense was tough to come by for the Hornets. There was not a lot of movement, and guys like Jarrett Jack, Willie Green and Trevor Ariza all took some pretty poor shots. Yet some of the toughest shots seemed to be the ones that went down, including a Marco Belinelli buzzer beating three at the end of the first half.

Damnit Dallas.

The Jazz manage to stay in the race for now with the win and a Grizz loss.  Click on through for the standings