More photos » Colin Braley - AP

about 11 hours ago: Minnesota Timberwolves' Darko Milicic (31), of Serbia, looks on as Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer (5) reacts after scoring in the second period of their NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 17, 2010, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Colin Braley)

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Well, we didn't get 156 like the Suns did, but give our record against the Wolves this season, I'll take it.

It certainly didn't start out the way you would like.  After the Jazz got out to a 6-2 lead, Minnesota promptly went on a 12-0 run.  The Jazz fell in love with the three ball early, the only problem is that the three ball didn't share the same affection. That changed though when Korver came a calling.  Really, who can resist those dreamy eyes and luscious locks?  Korver is so hot right now he can even put the ball in a trance.  He seduced the ball well shooting 7-9 from the field and 3-4 from the arc for 20 points on his 29th birthday.

I guess if the DesNews can mention Korver's three-point shooting without putting him into a funk, I can as well.  He leads the league in three-point percentage with 58.5% (including tonight).  That's just unreal.  With only 14 games left in the season, he could end up breaking the record for three-point shooting percentage in a season.  The current mark is held by Steve Kerr from the 1995 season when he made 52.3% of his threes.

If we take his average of 2.55 3PAs per game that he's averaged over the past couple of months and project that for the rest of the season, he would take approximately 35-36 more threes for the season.  He currently has 83 attempts so he would finish with 119.  53% of that is about 63 which would barely break the record.  He's made 48 this season so he would need to shoot 15/36 (41.7%) to accomplish that.

Now, we just need to work on his dunks.

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More photos » Jeffrey Phelps - AP

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See what happens when you knock a beer out of a fan's hands?  Milwaukee gets angry over the wasted brew.

The Jazz had quite few non-calls that they should have but the Bucks flat out took this game.  Utah is one of the best offensive teams in the league and the buck stopped in Milwaukee.

So to answer the question in the preview, the immovable object wins tonight.  Had the Jazz not have to play from behind for most of the night, they might have had enough to steal this game in the fourth.  You can't keep playing from behind like that and expect to win them all.  It's nice to know that they can come back like they have so many times, but when you run into a team like the Bucks that are just as hot, the odds are going to be against you.

Despite the poor play from the Jazz tonight, that they had a chance to win this game was remarkable.  They finally took the lead late in the fourth on Deron's second free-throw and Boozer's dunk on the next possession pushed the lead to three, 78-75.  The Jazz had the chance to push the lead to six, but CJ Miles and Korver couldn't connect on their three-point attempts.

After that, the Bucks took over getting back to back turnovers from Deron and Boozer on consecutive possessions which resulted in points on the other end.  That put Milwaukee up four, 84-80.

Even then, the Jazz fought back with a Korver jumper and then Memo blocking Jennings on the other end.  CJ Miles then calmly made two free-throws to tie it up.  The Jazz got some D on Bogut on the following trip down the court for the Bucks, but someone didn't box out, and Ersan Ilyasova was able to get the easy put-back.

With one more shot to tie it up or win, the Jazz ran a play for a Memo three thatwasthisclose to going in, but rimmed out and that was essentially the game.

All the credit should go to Milwaukee in this one.  They held the Jazz to just 87 points when Utah had been putting up that number by the third quarter in recent contests.  The Bucks, and namely Andrew Bogut, frustrated the interior offense of the Jazz all night long.

Who knows, maybe if even one three ball falls for the Jazz, we're talking about them pulling out another win.  Maybe if someone else other than Memo or Boozer contributed offensively, we're talking about how we stole one.  Maybe if AK hadn't hurt his calf, there would have been an AKWSUA moment.

I didn't expect the hot three-point shooting for the Jazz to continue at the same pace, I just didn't expect for it to even out in one game.

No loss is good, but this loss to the Bucks isn't like the loss to the Clippers or the Kings.  The Bucks are a very good defensive team.

So off to the OKC on Sunday.  That's going to probably be a tougher game than this.  They're a great defensive team as well and Durant can drop 30 on you before breakfast.  So they're going to have to do what Matthews' mom used to tell Wesley about losses and that's forget about them at midnight and go on to the next one (according to her on 1320 KFAN when she was sitting with Locke).

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That's Charlotte of points that Boozer put up, isn't it?

Thankfully Boozer put on a uniform last night because he was the biggest reason the Jazz didn't drop their third in a row at home.

After crapping the second quarter with only 14 points, the Jazz were down 11 at the half, 52-42.  It's probably no coincidence that Boozer only had 1 FGA in that second quarter.  The Jazz only had 2 assists in that quarter and 0 from Deron.  Just a putrid quarter of basketball from the Jazz.

When he finally got the ball in the third, he went on a tear, going 6-9 from the field and a total of 14 points.  The Jazz also stepped it up on D holding the Bobcats to just 16 points and turned that halftime deficit into a a four-point lead heading into the fourth.

Why do you think Boozer opens his mouth so wide when he yells?  He's hungry and the Jazz should keep feeding him the ball right now.  Maybe we would have pulled out a win against Atlanta had he got more touches.

Charlotte hung around, even tying it up in the fourth, before the Jazz went on a 16-4 run to close it out.  The hero behind that run was none other than Kyle Elliot Korver.  He made three threes during that span and had the clinching three with just under two minutes to go in the game.

Basketball-reference.com has a team page that shows whether players have been playing above or below their season averages for the past 10 games.  The bad news is that Korver's three point percentage is down over his past ten games.  The good news is that it's only 57% compared to his season average of 60%.  Holy crap.  He doesn't have enough attempts to qualify officially for the league lead, but right now he's shooting almost 5% better than Mike Miller.

He's said that this is the healthiest he's been in a long time and it shows.  If he keeps this up, the Jazz would be dumb to not try to bring him back.  However, he's going to get a lot of offers I'm sure from other teams this offseason.

The play of the night though for me came from big Fess,

It's going to be hard to hold him down much longer.  I'm eagerly waiting to see how he progresses.  He's altering shots and becoming a presence inside.

I'm impressed with the way the Jazz kept in this game with their D.  Their offense hasn't been the best lately but they're always given themselves a chance to win.  Last night the Bobcats shot 53% from the field and had 71% from behind the arc.  But the Jazz weren't giving up anything inside.

After the first quarter, those threes didn't fall for Charlotte.  After shooting 5/7 in that first quarter, they only had 2/14 the rest of the way.  They were also held to just 37.5% shooting after that first period.  What kept them in the game was free throws, specifically, a lot of made free throws.  I guess that's like saying the only reason the Jazz won the game was because they scored more points than the Bobcats because you can't discount either.

But when the guy with the most free throws is a flopping Gerald Wallace with 10, then that irks me a bit.  Everyone in the NBA flops but after his no-show at the dunk contest and general apathy in the game itself, he dropped quit a bit in my book.  Still a tremendous basketball player but as far as being respected, he falls into the same category as Manu for me now.

Other notes

• Tyrus Thomas had a good night with 20 points on 6-8 shooting.  His most memorable moment though was when he checked into the game sans uniform sporting only his black under shirt.
• Bolerism of the night, "Boozer has had 3 20/20 games this season.  He's looking at a 30/14 right now."  I wonder how many 30/14's he's had?  Looks like he's had three 30/14s with his latest being at GS this month.
• Deron had 20 & 12 on his best shooting night since the All-star break.  Hopefully that continues
• CJ is taking his recent poor play pretty hard.  Not sure how he's going to snap out of it.  He did have some sweet passes last night.
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It's become cliche to say for the past couple of months, "The Jazz of the last couple of seasons wouldn't have won this game," but it's absolutely true.

This had all the makings of a typical Jazz letdown game where they fall in love with their jumper, stand around on offense, and as a result, the opposing team gets the long rebound and pushes it for an easy two on the other end.  They weren't hustling early and looked like they had just all rolled out of bed.

Then in typical Jazz fashion, they  played even in the second quarter and kept the lead to just 12 when it felt like 22.  Typical Jazz.  Keep it close enough for us to think that there might be a chance but do too little, too late and leave us let down knowing that with a decent first quarter, we might have won.

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Uh, oh, somebody learned how to win on the road.

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Man, if the Jazz really have figured out how to finally win on the road, look out.  The last two seasons have seen the Jazz post a 15-26 road record in 2009 and a 17-24 record in 2008.

In 2009, they would have finished 53-29 had they been just a game under .500 (20-21) on the road and would have been 5th in the west instead of 8th and facing a first-round exit against LA.

In 2008, the would have finished 57-25 with a 20-21 road record.  Had they finished 21-20, they would have been the 1 seed in the west.

In both of those years they had quite a few losses on the road that they should have had.  We would have had a whole different outcome to the last two years of playoffs had that happened.

They're by no means out of the woods this year as they still have 16 of their final 28 games left on the road.  Can they go .500 on the road the rest of the way?  Here are their remaining road games,

There are a lot of winnable road games as far as road games that are winnable.  This road winning streak has been one of the biggest indicators that maybe, just maybe, things have changed with the team.

The game was a little too close for comfort late.  The Jazz had a huge lead and the Warriors cut it to 11 late in the fourth.  I let my guard down as much as the Jazz did.  I was having a good game thread, checking on some tweets, getting stuff to eat, and when I snapped out of it, the Ws had a chance to cut the lead to single digits.

It was a pretty ugly second half for the Jazz after going into video game mode in the second quarter.  They outscored the high flying Warriors 31-10.    All of you that play video games, especially sports games, you've been the victim of playing really well only to have the CPU go into screw you mode and coming back.  They can't miss and you can't hit.

However, on rare occasions, you just keep going and going and there's no comeback.  They keep missing/striking out/fumbling and everything you do it gold.  Best feeling ever to stick it to the computer and run up the score.  That's what it was like for the Jazz in the second quarter.  It was a beautiful thing to behold.

Let's finish this out Bullets Wizards style

• Great comment thread.  767 comments as of this writing.  We're pretty close to having to start a second game thread.  Thanks for all of your great comments and participation.
• AK was just an assist and two blocks from the 5X5.  He still had 22 to go along with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals, and 3 blocks.  A couple of those blocks were just a crime against humanity. AK will save us all.
• Millsap had 7 & 7 with 5 of those being offensive boards.  He also had 4 huge blocks that
  
• Boozer was a monster and always has been against this Warriors team.  30 & 16 for him on the night.  Even against the Ws, this was some good production.  Fantastic game tonight.
  
• Deron may have left his shot in Dallas at the All-star game.  But he must have had his dimes in his carry-on because he's still finding team mates.  He'll break out of the shooting funk.
• He seemed to be in better spirits after the game for his interview.  He joked about crying all day in reference to the Brewer trade.  Boozer mentioned after the game that it felt like they were losing a member of family.  It didn't sound like either of them knew about Ronnie's injury; at least they didn't mention anything about it.
• CJ Miles was, well CJ Miles.  When he was getting his feet set, he was nailing threes.  But he had a couple of jacks late that had me screaming.  Give him credit though for getting the Jazz going early and coming in and scoring 10 quick points.  He was the only other player in double figures.  Sure looks like he wants those extra minutes.
• And the Fess got some PT which coincided with the start of the Warriors' late run.  If we don't hear from bucimislover by Monday, he's kidnapped Fess and taken him across the border.  The scary part of this is that Siler tweeted that a fan behind the Jazz bench was wearing a #44 and screamed when Fess made his bucket.
• It was LDS night at the Oracle.  They had the missionaries singing the national anthem.  Did everyone get their tickets 10% off?
• Memo to Booner, Ronnie B no longer plays for the Jazz.  If it's easier, you can just say Ronnie now that we only have one.
• A little better on the turnovers.  The Jazz had 14 to their 22.
• A lot of opponents still step in the lane early on Deron's free-throws.  Gets them almost every time.
• Great night around the league for the Jazz.  Nuggets lost to Washington.  The Spurs fell in Philly.  And Boston crushed the Blazers.
• Finally, they're doing an MRI on Ronnie Brewer in the morning.  Let's hope for the best.

And I'm just stating fact here.  After Denver's loss, we're just a 1/2 game behind them in the standings.  They'll be hosting Boston on Sunday night while we're playing the Blazers.  Fact.

On to Portland.

Armageddon - Russian Cosmonaut (via Rhoemer33)

Finally, we can get out of here!

With the Americans unable to get things going for a win, it took AK to take over late and make the play of the game.  The Jazz were up just 1, 94-93, when Andrei picked off a cross-court pass and raced the other way for an uncontested dunk.  That made up for a night where his shot was way off.  That dunk was just 1 of 2 made field goals.  He still finished with 12 as he made all 8 of his FTAs.

Until that play, neither team could give the win away fast enough.  They combined for 43 turnovers in the game.  It seemed like just when one team would make a great play and steal the ball, they gave it right back.  It was very sloppy at the end and the Jazz were fortunate that they were able to have the ball fall their way. 

It wasn't just luck though.  Credit them for holding the Rockets to a meaningless field goal over the last 4:41 of the game.  After All-star of the night David Andersen made a three to put Houston up three, 93-90, the Jazz allowed Scola to get a bucket with around 14 seconds left in a game that was already decided.

Depite shooting 52% to the Rockets' 40%, the Jazz couldn't pull away late in the game.  They had built up a 16-6 lead to start the game but couldn't hold on.  They found themselves down 6 at one point but made their way back.

The Rockets stayed in it because they were shooting lights out from downtown.  In the first half, they went 8-11 from deep.  They cooled off considerably in the second half making just 3/15.  Outside of the second quarter, the Jazz held the Reds to just 36% shooting on the night.

Great defensive stand on the night from the Jazz.

Don't look now, but the Jazz are just a game under .500 on the road.  In year's past, even just a game under .500 would have given the Jazz a top seed in the West.  If they can hold on to this pace, we would have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.  I really don't know how that would feel like.  Let's not get ahead of ourselves though.  Still a long ways to go especially with 18 games still left away from the ESA.

Some individual performances on the night worth noting.

Mehmet Okur

Is there such a thing as an underwhelming 21 & 8 as well as 4 blocks?  He shot the ball well (9-16) but I never thought to myself that he was playing that good. He needs to start his fake three, lumber to the basket move with about 18 seconds left on the shot clock so that he doesn't get called for a violation.  Give him credit though, he was making them all.  And just when I think he's too slow to guard someone he goes out and blocks 4 shots.  Crazy.

Paul Millsap

20 & 12, 2 blocks, and 2 steals.   All of that with a very efficient 11 shots from the field.  Can't say much more about his play and his role this year.  He's having a career year while coming off the bench.  He had an even 10 in both halves.  If he's knocking down that jumper, look out.

Carlos Boozer

Booze added 12 & 8 at took only three shots in the second half.  I'm not sure why it worked out that way.  It didn't seem like the Jazz were using him on the block that much.  He also had a couple of late turnovers when he couldn't decide if he was going to pass or to shoot.  When you're trying to make that decision, it's usually going to be a TO.  Weird stat of the night was that he attempted 0 free-throws.

Deron Williams

Looks like we might be getting that post-all-star bump in assists already.  He had 7 in the first quarter, 10 in the first half, and 15 when the night was done.  Like the All-star game, he probably should have had a few more if players had made some relatively easy shots.  He added 17 points and shot the ball pretty well except in the second.  It doesn't look like the All-star game took much if anything out of him.

Kyle Korver

Give Sloan credit again for putting the right players out on the floor to finish the game.  Last night it was Korver getting the call after barely getting  a couple minutes a game since his return from injury.  He had 10 points, 3 assists (including a nice look to Boozer late), and 3 steals.  I'll echo the game thread in that it was nice to see some consistency from that position instead of the maddening CJ.

These are the wins the Jazz need to pick up.  These are the wins that they're expected to get.  If you're any kind of contender, this is where you find a way to win despite not having the best of nights.  We're seeing that now.  Glad to see the team respond after the LA loss.

No time to savor this one though as they play in New Orleans tonight against a Hornets team that has played well even with Chris Paul out.

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More photos » Mark Weber - AP

The two-headed monster.

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Hard to write a recap when there really wasn't any silver lining to the game at all.  For whatever reason, when we lose to the Lakers, there's a recurring storyline.  First, we get blown out in the first quarter.  The lead stays pretty much the same for the next two quarters as they play relatively even with the Lakers.  Then there's a fourth-quarter tease where it looks like we're going to make a run but the Lakers make a couple of big shots and we're done.

I always find myself thinking during that fourth quarter spurt, "Where has this been all game?"

There always seems to be a little bit of little brother syndrome when we play the Lakers.  That is, there's some kind of mental block that little brother might have when playing an older brother in basketball.

Last night that big brother syndrome was literal as Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom towered over anyone the Jazz threw at them.  Odom had 25 & 11 along with two blocks.  Gasol had 22 & 19 as well as 4 steals and 5 blocks.  They owned the Jazz and there wasn't anyone or anything we could throw at them to slow them down.  AK had some success given his length, but that's not a long-term solution.

On the other side of little brother syndrome is big brother syndrome.  This is where you have a mental edge playing over your little brother even if you're not as good as him.  I'm not saying of course that the Jazz are better than the Lakers, it's just that LA seems to relish playing Utah.  Kobe has always had a little extra motivation for beating the Jazz and while he didn't play last night, I think it applies to the whole team.  Maybe if Derek Fisher isn't with the team next year they lose a bit of that.

As ugly as this game was and a loss is always multiplied when it's against the Lakers, I'm going to try to not let this loss wipe out the recent success.  It does mean we have a lot of work to do if we're going to continue to contend as that if we have any success in the playoffs, we're going to have to go through LA at some point.  We're going to have to find a way to beat them, something nobody really can do right now, especially over a seven-game series.

If there's anything to take away from this game, other than Ronnie Price almost making Sasha Vujacic cry, is that we knew a loss was coming sooner than later.  Here's why the loss is a good thing.  I think a lot of us have had in the back of our minds the notion that while the Jazz have been as hot as they come, is it just fool's gold?  Are we going to see another collapse come this year?  Given the way the past few seasons have ended, it's not an outrageous thought.

So here's why it's a good thing; we're going to see just how the Jazz come back after this loss.  They have four in a row on the road coming up after the break.  What team are we going to see?  Are they going to be able to forget this loss and try to start a new streak?  What if they lose the next two games as well?  I don't wish for any losses, but if they lose a couple it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen.  I want to know if this 12-2 run is for real or if things are going to even out later.  The next four games should tell us quite a bit about this team.

It's a good thing that there's an All-star break for fans as well.  We might not be heading to Cabo for fish tacos, but I think we can use a break from meaningful games for a bit, get recharged, forget the last game, and start the second half of  the season optimistically, however misguided.

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More photos » Jason Redmond - AP

Hi five!

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Ronnie Price played a motivated game 5 against the Lakers in last year's playoffs almost bringing the Jazz back in the game.  When he re-signed with the Jazz, they asked him about his motivation for that game and his response was,

I hate the Lakers and I wanted to...it was more about that. It had nothing to do with trying to prove a point to Coach or anything like that. I just like getting my name called and like being on the court and having a chance to compete, especially against a team I can't stand

I know we don't play the Lakers until tomorrow night, but maybe it's just LA overall that Ronnie P doesn't like.  He turned the game around tonight when it looked like the Jazz were going to drop one on the road to the Clips.  He came into the game with about :40 left in the third quarter and the Jazz down four.  When he left the game, he handed a 100-91 lead back to Deron Williams.

Ronnie made the first 8 points of the fourth quarter including two three-pointers.  Both of them gave the Jazz the lead and following the second one, the Jazz wouldn't trail again.

In addition to his offense, he had two big steals in the fourth that helped change the tide of the game.  With just under 8 minutes in the game, Chris Kaman clanked two free-throws, the second of which went into the hands of Al Thornton.  Price snuck up from behind and poked the ball away which resulted in a Boozer three-point play on the next possession.  At the time, the Jazz held just a three-point lead, 92-89.  That was a potential five-point swing.

On the the next possession for the Clippers, Price picked Baron Davis' pocket and that resulted in another three-point play on the other end for Wesley Matthews.  When the dust settled from those the plays, the Jazz found themselves up 98-89.  Great game by Price and Deron was able to get a long rest after aggravating his wrist.

Boozer/Kaman matchup

When asked in the post-game show if he had something to prove after being left off the All-star team, Boozer replied, "I really did."

This was as big of a statement game as it gets from Booze.  Kaman finished with a solid 19 & 7 on the night but went 5-14 from the field.  He started the game just 1-7 and missed quite a few bunnies.

Boozer bested that with 34 & 14 while missing only 4 shots on the night.  It was his best performance of the year and seemed to be his quietest output.  He wasn't doing anything that made me think he was going to score 30+.  When I Bolerjack announced that he had 27, I was taken back a bit.  I figured he was on pace for the 20-25 point range, I didn't think he was that high.  He didn't force shots and wasn't looking to get his as evidenced by his 4 assists. 

Even more impressive was his defense late.  Memo was on Kaman for most of the the game but late in the fourth we saw Boozer on him and he came away with a pick and one slap away of the ball.  The only shots Kaman could get were some mid-range jumpers.

If this was a heavyweight fight between the two, this one was a knockout in the fourth round.  Excuse me for my complete lack of boxing knowledge when reading that last sentence.

Statement made Boozer.

Chalk this game up as another "game that the Jazz wouldn't have won had they played in Nov."  The Jazz were down 10, 58-68 early in the third after Rasual Butler nailed a three.  They went up 11 on the next possession after Memo made 1 of 2 FTs and a Kaman layup.  They still had a 9-point lead late in the third after another Butler three-point shot.

They came back by getting back to scoring layups and hitting free throws.  That's the way the game started for the Jazz when some deft passing, the trademark of this 8-game winning streak, led to two early buckets.  The Clippers had a big free throw advantage in the first half but the Jazz closed that gap a bit in the second.  Utah got behind again when they started taking more jumpers and getting crushed on the boards.  The Clippers were getting to almost every ball of their missed shots. They had a huge lead in that category for most of the game. 

In the fourth the Jazz continued their comeback and started getting rebounds and started getting easy looks at the basket.  Even after Price helped build the big lead, the Clippers fought back.  They were down just six with about 1:30 left in the game.  Deron turned the ball over and Davis ended up with an open break to the basket, only he noobied that layup, Deron grabbed the board, and found Boozer on the other end for a dunk.  There's your ball game right there.

So while not an impressive win, it was a win nonetheless.  It was another win on the road and the first win on the road when they've trailed going into the fourth quarter.

Deron said after the game that they're a different team.  I have to agree.  I'd like to think that they're a different team than last season as well and that we won't see another nose dive like we did then.  I don't think we do though.

Trying to get a feel for the players having just watched them on TV and a couple of games at the ESA isn't really realistic.  But if it's possible, this team does have a different feel to it.  There's definitely a difference from the start of the season where the players have admitted there were some chemistry issues.  But there is a difference from last season when they won 12 straight.  Ronnie Price put it best in his post-game interview, "I think this is the most fun we've had on the floor since I've been here."

That's it, that's the difference.  They're having fun even when they're down.  Another great team win.  With that, let's look at some of the individual performances

Deron Williams

Not a great shooting night, but he had the highlight of the game as he had a huge, one-handed, put-back slam off a Matthews' miss.  Just ferocious.  He had 13 & 11 on the night.

Kyle Korver

KK sighting!  That is all.

Boozer

Check out his efficiency rating from last night on Popcorn Machine.net.  Wow.

AK

Andrei finally cooled down a bit.  He was guilty of taking jumpers when they weren't falling last night.  He had a couple of nice drives and dunks and should have done that all night.

CJ

Easily the most maddening player on the team.  He does some great things one minute and then jacks up threes out of the offense and out of rhythm.  He had an embarrassing missed dunk last night but redeemed himself with a putback dunk of his own as well as being on the receiving end of an alley-oop from Deron.  He also had some spectacular assists and finished with 5.  Add to that 7 rebounds and CJ had a good night.

So one LA team down, one to go tonight.  Let's get it done.

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