Game Recaps
I Feel Like I'm Taking Crazy Pills, Jazz Fall To Lakers, 111-110
by Basketball John on May 10, 2010 2:43 AM MDT
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Ron Artest is a career 34% three-point shooter, shooting 35% this season, and has shot 26.5% the last two months of the season. And before last night's 4-7 game, he was 7/42 (16.7%).
Yet Crazy Pills made 4 of the Lakers' 9 three-pointers in the second half to help LA take a 3-0 series lead over the Jazz. So when someone who has been shooting so poorly comes and makes the difference in the game, it's a little frustrating.
Lakers Survive Lazy Sunday, Beat The Jazz 104-99
by Basketball John on May 3, 2010 1:43 AM MDT
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Whew! That was close. The ABC announcers almost had to go off-script. I'm not sure what they would have done had the Jazz actually won that game. They were stuttering enough as it was when the Jazz actually had a lead late in the game. Maybe they had the rough draft instead of the final cut?
So, are we getting closer? Closer to writing a new ending to this tired script?
We've seen in games of series past where the Jazz get blown out early, make a comeback, only they can't get over that 5-point hump and then end up losing by 10 points after a couple of missed jumpers and Lakers and-1s.
Well, we made a bit of progress in that the Jazz were able to get over that hump and actually have a lead, 93-89 with just a little over 4 minute remaining in the game. The game started out the same with the Lakers making anything that they put up and Gasol playing keep-away from everyone with his height.
Yet the Lakers could never put the Jazz away. As we've become accustomed, the Jazz had one bad quarter against LA and then played them pretty even the rest of the way.
In that first quarter, LA was getting everything within about 5 feet of the basket. They got to the rim any time they wanted and everything came inside the three-point line.
Their lead got as big as 14 in the second quarter before the Jazz held their ground a little bit and then chipped that lead down to 8, 45-53 at the half.
The Jazz were able to go on a 13-4 run in the third quarter to cut the lead to 3. LA then proceeded to go on a 6-0 run of their own to push the lead back to 9. At the end of 3, the Jazz were still down 8.
That's when we saw the Ronnie Price from a series ago come in and lead the second team to a remarkable comeback. Check out the lineup: Price, Miles, Koufos, Korver, and Millsap. The Lakers countered with Bynum, Odom, Brown, Walton, and Farmar. Those are the lineups that are worth the price of admission.
While most of the starters got a rest, the second teams went at it. This happened in the second quarter as well with the Lakers bench able to increase their lead. This time around it was the Jazz that went on a run of their own. 12-1 to be exact.
When Deron checked back in for Ronnie P, the Jazz had an 85-82 lead. You can't say that Sloan should have left Price in. Despite his hustle and extra Laker-hating motivation, Price isn't going to give you the same chance to win as Deron is. Ronnie Price and the rest of that second team deserve a whole lot of praise for what they did. Normally they're just called on to maintain the lead or keep the team within striking distance. When they're able to put on a run like that, that's just icing on the cake. I would have liked to have seen Ronnie P stay out there with Deron and move Matthews to the 3 possibly. That would have provided mismatches though for the Jazz, you know, even more than normal.
The Jazz weren't able to hold that lead unfortunately. They held that four-point lead late before their offense went cold. After Matthews made a steal on Gasol on one end and a layup on the other, the Jazz had the 93-89 lead. They wouldn't score again until Deron went to the line with just over a minute left in the game.
On the Lakers side, Kobe went into takeover mode. He scored 7 straight points over that stretch with 5 of those coming at the line. He then finished off the Jazz with another 6 points.
The missed shots down the stretch included a Millsap jumper, a CJ three, Boozer blocked, Boozer losing the ball on the way up, and a DWill missed layup.
I rewatched those last 4 minutes and the Lakers simply packed the lane and swarmed anyone that drove. On Deron's drive and Boozer's block, every Laker had a foot in the lane. Both times Matthews and Miles were standing out on the three-point line. I don't know if they would have made them, but they would have had wide-open looks on kickouts.
The game was lost when the Lakers were up 1, 96-95 and Kobe just missed jumper. Boozer was going out to help on Kobe's drive allowing Odom to sneak in behind Booze and grab the offensive rebound. His put-back put the Lakers up three. Even at that point, it wasn't over but the next offensive possession was Boozer's turnover when he lost the ball on the way up for a shot. Kobe then drove the lane and put the Lakers up 5 with just 22 seconds to go.
The Jazz certainly had their chance to steal this game. The Lakers could have put the game away but credit the Jazz for not laying down and for coming back. I'm afraid they're not going to be able to sneak up on LA in game 2. They might have finally awoken the beast.
We'll see how both teams respond in game 2 Tuesday night.
Player and game notes
- The Lakers only had three players in double figured, Kobe, Gasol, and Derek Fisher. The Jazz on the other hand had 5, Deron, Boozer, Millsap, Mathews, and Miles.
- Deron had only 2 points in the fourth quarter. He had 2 FTs and only 2 FGAs in 6 minutes and one of those attempts was a desperation three. His other attempt was a driving layup that missed. He still finished with 24 & 8 and had what's becoming an annual ferocious dunk on the Lakers.
- CJ was very up and down in this game. He finally started taking it to the rim late and played Kobe decent. I'd like to see that CJ earlier in the game. His confidence level seems to be just as big of a rollercoaster. He had 16 points with 7 of those coming at the line. More of that please.
- Boozer had 18 & 12 including 6 offensive boards. I wasn't swayed one way or the other by his play.
- Millsap was a part of that fourth-quarter run putting up 8 & 2. He finished with 16 & 9.
- I thought Matthews played well on Kobe. He was up on him the entire time and challenged shots. Kobe just hit nearly everything that he threw up. He had 14 & 7 and a couple of threes. I'm looking forward to him playing Kobe in game 2.
- Korver hit a bucket.
- Fesenko wasn't a factor in the game. He wasn't slowing down LA's big men at all. He played only 13 minutes and the KOOF got those extra minutes.
- The Jazz were 18-21 from the line tonight which is a big reason why the Jazz were in this one.
- Gasol is going to be the MVP of this series. He had 25 & 12 with only 1 PF. He's going to get whatever he wants insides.
- My appreciation for Boler and Booner increased exponentially after listening to that hack crew on ABC. They only know the Lakers and seemed to be confused when the Jazz were playing well. They weren't quite sure what they were supposed to say when the Jazz had the lead late. "This isn't going to plan. We weren't trained on what to do in this scenario! "
- Silver Screen and Roll
Why do I have to watch a :30 clip for a :27 video?
QuickCap - Nuggets Fulfill Their Destiny, Lose Game 6 And Series To The Jazz
by Basketball John on Apr 30, 2010 11:17 PM MDT
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Some quick thoughts for some post-game discussion
- Jazz in 6. I knew some predicted it, but how many expected it after Memo went down?
- Where does this playoff series rank in recent years? Better than the two Houston series?
- The three-headed monster of the night was Matthews, Millsap, and Boozer. Monster games by all of them.
- Matthews 13-15 from the line. Wow. One fat stuff on Melo.
- Boozer 22 & 20 and 5 pretty assists.
- Millsap with 21 & 11 and three huge blocks, two of those on Melo. Many AND-1s.
- Price filled in admirably for Deron went he went out with foul trouble. No assists but shot the ball well.
- Korver 3-7, but hey, he hit some.
- Melo 6-22 from the field. We needed that. Credit Matthews and Miles.
- Chauncey almost pulled it out for the Nuggets with 30 points. He missed some big shots down the stretch.
- Fess, not your best outing. Make sure not to eat anything before the next game. You have to go up against two big men.
- Free throws, or lack of them, almost killed us. 16 missed FTs.
- AK coming back soon!
- Bring on LA..., right?
Denver Decides They Would Rather Lose The Series In Utah, Beat The Jazz 116 - 102
by Basketball John on Apr 29, 2010 8:12 AM MDT
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If the Jazz had lost the first two games, won the last two at home, and then won last night's game, we'd be coming home with the same 3-2 lead. As far as momentum goes, this game had the same feel of game 1 and the Jazz were able to get a win in game 2, so I'm not worried about the Nuggets gaining confidence. They're also going to be coming home for game 6 which should be a momentum stopper.
The Jazz weren't going to be able to hold down the Nuggets shooting percentage for four straight games. Despite all of their issues they've had the past few games, they're still a team that's capable of lighting it up and they did just that.
Jazz Put On Their Sunday Best To Beat The Nuggets, 117-106. Series lead 3-1.
by Basketball John on Apr 26, 2010 7:05 AM MDT
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The dominant religion in Utah? The Jazz.
I have to think that not many people, including hard-core Jazz fans, would have put the Jazz up 3-1 in this series. Even if we had AK and Memo, with the Nuggets having home-court advantage and having owned the season series, we were looking at Denver being favored to win in 6 or 7.
Losing Kirilenko and Okur seems to have had the same effect of losing one of your senses in that the others become a bit more sharpened. We've seen the rest of the team come together to play some of the most focused ball we've seen this season.
Jazz Lose Game 1 @ Denver, 113-126
by Basketball John on Apr 18, 2010 12:42 AM MDT
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Some quick thoughts on the game before going to bed. For some games you'll see a score like tonight's and then hear that it wasn't even that close. Well, tonight it was a lot closer that the score would indicate.
The Nuggets peaked at the right time and blew out the Jazz in the final 5-6 minutes of the fourth quarter. Up until that point there was still some hope for the Jazz.
I thought it was telling that Deron continued to struggle in the first half yet the Jazz found themselves down only one. He finally showed up in the third making some of the the non-Chris Farley ninja moves that we've come to know. He started out nailing a mid-range jumper and was consistently getting into the lane. I thought he controlled the game really well.
Everyone else showed up to play tonight. CJ had 17 in the first half including 7-7 from the free-throw line. Unfortunately we didn't see him at all in the second half with foul trouble and after getting the wind knocked out of him.
On offense everything seemed to be clicking. We shot 54%, had 26 assists, and almost had as many free-throw makes (24) as Denver had attempts (25).
The had the game tight going into the fourth quarter which is pretty much all you can ask for at that point.
However, Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith were just too much. I knew this game was coming from Smith. He was 4-10 from deep but had those three to start the fourth quarter that pushed Denver's lead up and took the Nuggets up another level mentally.
Then it was the Melo show. I was talking tonight with prodigal punk about how Carmelo only works from the right corner on the logo. It's either a jumper or a drive from that spot. You'd think you could plan a defense around that a little bit easier since you know what he's going to do. Between CJ and Matthews, I thought they did a pretty good job on him, he just couldn't miss. If you're telling me that he's only going to get 4 FT attempts on the night, the Jazz are going to be in great shape. He had a few open looks but for the most part he had a hand in his face or a body up on him. He just hit everything he threw up.
Nene was also a big factor tonight. He worked well against Millsap and Boozer. With Memo likely out, we're going to be hard pressed to slow him down without getting into foul trouble.
Speaking of Memo, you could tell from when he went down that it wasn't good. It never is when that happens obviously but this isn't going to even be just bad news. This will be a huge blow for the team. This will be significant.
Considering there are no moral victories, especially come playoff time, you have to be optimistic for the fact that the Jazz played really well on the road for 3 1/2 quarters. I was afraid that they would come out and lay an egg in the first quarter. Basically, I thought that the first quarter was going to be like the last 5-6 minutes of the game.
Granted, we're already without AK and we're likely going to be without Memo for the next couple of games minimum, but if the Jazz play with the heart we saw tonight, I think they can, at the least, make this a 7-game series. It's going to be beyond impossible it seems like to knock of Denver on the road.
If you're looking for another silver lining, you have to think that Melo can't shoot that well again. He might make it up on the line on Monday, but hopefully his shots stop falling so frequently. Forget about JR Smith though. He's almost guaranteed to drop another 20, it's just in his blood it seems.
I'm looking forward to Monday night.
Suns Put The "Finish Him" Move On The Jazz After Killing The Nuggets, L 100-86
by Basketball John on Apr 14, 2010 11:06 PM MDT
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After destroying the Nuggets last night, the Suns looked like they were teleported instantaneously from their home court and continued the carnage against the Jazz.
It's like David Stern ripped my nightmares right from my head and put them center stage tonight at the ESA. Just about everything that could go wrong did. Horrible offense. Nobody outside of Memo showed up. Poor officiating. More horrid offense. Turnovers. The Suns actually playing defense.
The thin bench was a bigger factor than I thought it would be. It was magnified by the fact that the starters didn't play well. The Suns bench came in in the second quarter and ran up the score and the Suns weren't really threatened again. The Jazz did have a couple of spots where they got it to 13 but a couple of calls go against them, and a three later, the Suns are back up almost 20.
So while I try not to be overly pessimistic, this loss gives me a sinking feeling in my stomach and not just because of this game. The fact that we now won't have home court advantage against the Nuggets gives me little hope at advancing. I know that Denver is playing poorly right now as well but they've had our number this year and I think they'll pick it up for the playoffs.
Then, even if do somehow get past the Nuggets, there's LA looming. Harpring actually stated on the broadcast tonight that he thinks the Jazz are the only team that can take out the Lakers. Sheesh.
So to me, though I'll be cheering on the Jazz as hard as I can in the playoffs, tonight's loss signifies the end of the season for me. Maybe it's just the mood from tonight's game getting to me but the reality from this loss starts to set in. The Jazz had to get this win tonight to have a chance at advancing deep.
The silver lining for me is that Andrei said he will be back for the playoffs. I would love to have seen how our fate would have been different if we had had him over the last month. I'm excited for his return more than anything.
So let's hope for an inspired run against Denver that starts Saturday Sunday.
Kevin Durant Should Have Paid For His ESPN Insider Access, Jazz Finally Beat Thunder, 140-139
by Basketball John on Apr 7, 2010 1:46 AM MDT
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Attention NBA fans....
The Jazz were the first team in NBA history to be given a win based on a non-call from a referee. Did CJ foul Durant on his final shot? Yes. Would I be pissed if I was a Thunder fan? Hell, yes. But I'm not going to lose any sleep over it and neither should you (if you're a Jazz fan). You can talk karma, but I say it was karma paying Durant back after this tweet,
Man, I guess those rookie contracts just don't pay like they used to.
That's all I have to say about that because it takes away from what was probably the best regular season game in the NBA this year. If that foul had been called, and the Jazz would have lost, it still would have been the game of the year, it just would have had a bitter taste to it.
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