Hawks 116, Jazz 111
They're not going to get these games back at the end of the season. Sometime in April the Jazz are going to be fighting for a playoff seed and they're going to really, really, really wish they'd beaten the Pacers and Knicks and Kings and now Hawks on the road.
The Jazz, who were a 20-21 road team last season, are now 5-10 away from EnergySolutions Arena, having lost six straight road games. They were 19-7 through 26 games last season, compared to 14-12 now.
It's going to take something like a 20-5 stretch for the Jazz to climb back up the Western Conference standings. That's a tall order and I just had my first reader e-mail to ask who Kevin O'Connor likes in the draft lottery this season.
OK, it's a little early for that. Monday's game, though, had to be the most maddening for fans because the Jazz made the same mistakes all over again that dogged them during their six-game losing streak.
They got off to a fast start in the first quarter and had Joe Johnson on the bench with two fouls only 3:46 in. They built a 66-57 lead in the third quarter and seemingly had the Hawks on the ropes but let it all slip away.
In two minutes, the Jazz gave up 10 unanswered points. The Hawks went into a zone defense and the Jazz came up empty on three key possessions. Deron Williams missed a jumper, Andrei Kirilenko forced a pass for a turnover and Jarron Collins missed a layup.
The same thing happened in the Portland game Friday, when the Jazz had an 11-point lead and gave nearly all of it away in mere minutes. They miss Mehmet Okur's shooting for sure, but the Jazz's struggles against the zone seem to go deeper.
"It just slows us down a little bit," Williams said of the zone. "We start thinking a little too much."
On the defensive end, just consider that the Hawks dressed nine players and seven of them scored above their season average. The only two who didn't were Shelden Williams and Solomon Jones, who was on the floor for three seconds.
The Jazz were done in by Anthony Johnson, who played 45 minutes because the Hawks were so desperate for a point guard with Tyronn Lue, Acie Law and Speedy Claxton all injured. Johnson had a season-high 17 points and 14 assists and two killer three-pointers.
"Anthony Johnson probably played the best game of his career tonight," Carlos Boozer said. "He hit big shots, had great assists and played pretty solid defense. He had a hell of a game."
And the Jazz also were done in by a rookie. Al Horford had 17 points and seven rebounds, including eight straight points matched up against Boozer in the second quarter. "He's a good young fella," Boozer said.
The Hawks also shot 50 free throws in the game, making 36. The Jazz were in the penalty not even three minutes into the second quarter. C.J. Miles and Jason Hart committed back-to-back fouls and Kyrylo Fesenko was called for two more personals.
Marvin Williams scored 21 points and 11 of them came from the foul line. Between them, Williams, Josh Smith and Joe Johnson shot 33 free throws. Combine that with the Hawks' 57.6 percent shooting and Jerry Sloan figured his team had to play a perfect game to win.
"This is pretty much identical to what we've run into," Sloan said. "We've missed free throws. We've given up way too many easy shots. Field-goal percentage against us has been really high. You've got to [have] a perfect finish. The way we've been playing is not close to that.
"I think you have to give them credit. They came back and won the ball game. They wanted the ball game a little bit more than they did."
More Sloan: "What's been pretty much consistent is what have we done in the fourth quarter? We have to be able to make plays and you have to be able to make shots. We lose confidence in our offense and try to go maybe a little bit too much within ourself."
Boozer did finish with 39 points, two shy of his career high, and he was slipping screens all game long. Not sure if Sloan was talking specifically about Boozer, but he did comment on the Jazz doing too much of it afterward.
"You're looking for something quick," Sloan said. "You've got to be a little more forceful to stay with what you're doing and set better screens to get somebody clear and open for a shot."
The Jazz are at a crossroads on this trip. They can either pack it in and hope they can regroup after Christmas when the schedule turns in their favor. Or they can finally get things righted on the road. I'd say even a 2-2 split would be a positive at this point.
* * *
A couple of things: Andrei Kirilenko missed the three three-pointers he took Monday and is now 4-for-27 beyond the arc this season. That's 14.8 percent and definitely not what the Jazz are looking for. Kirilenko also had five turnovers in the game.
Kyrylo Fesenko is going to take one step backward for every step he takes forward. That's just how young big men are. He went 0-for-3 with three fouls and two turnovers in 8 minutes. As long as Fesenko is foul-prone, the Jazz will give up free points at the line.
Sloan was desperate enough to win Monday's game that Boozer, Williams and Kirilenko all came back on short rest to start the fourth quarter. Boozer played 21:47 of the second half, Williams played 21:02 and Kirilenko played 23:17 - - all but 43 seconds.
* * *
If you want to vent, have at it here. We'll check in Tuesday from Charlotte with a story about how the Jazz's schedule has basically eliminated practice time for the better part of the last month.
--Ross Siler
The Jazz, who were a 20-21 road team last season, are now 5-10 away from EnergySolutions Arena, having lost six straight road games. They were 19-7 through 26 games last season, compared to 14-12 now.
It's going to take something like a 20-5 stretch for the Jazz to climb back up the Western Conference standings. That's a tall order and I just had my first reader e-mail to ask who Kevin O'Connor likes in the draft lottery this season.
OK, it's a little early for that. Monday's game, though, had to be the most maddening for fans because the Jazz made the same mistakes all over again that dogged them during their six-game losing streak.
They got off to a fast start in the first quarter and had Joe Johnson on the bench with two fouls only 3:46 in. They built a 66-57 lead in the third quarter and seemingly had the Hawks on the ropes but let it all slip away.
In two minutes, the Jazz gave up 10 unanswered points. The Hawks went into a zone defense and the Jazz came up empty on three key possessions. Deron Williams missed a jumper, Andrei Kirilenko forced a pass for a turnover and Jarron Collins missed a layup.
The same thing happened in the Portland game Friday, when the Jazz had an 11-point lead and gave nearly all of it away in mere minutes. They miss Mehmet Okur's shooting for sure, but the Jazz's struggles against the zone seem to go deeper.
"It just slows us down a little bit," Williams said of the zone. "We start thinking a little too much."
On the defensive end, just consider that the Hawks dressed nine players and seven of them scored above their season average. The only two who didn't were Shelden Williams and Solomon Jones, who was on the floor for three seconds.
The Jazz were done in by Anthony Johnson, who played 45 minutes because the Hawks were so desperate for a point guard with Tyronn Lue, Acie Law and Speedy Claxton all injured. Johnson had a season-high 17 points and 14 assists and two killer three-pointers.
"Anthony Johnson probably played the best game of his career tonight," Carlos Boozer said. "He hit big shots, had great assists and played pretty solid defense. He had a hell of a game."
And the Jazz also were done in by a rookie. Al Horford had 17 points and seven rebounds, including eight straight points matched up against Boozer in the second quarter. "He's a good young fella," Boozer said.
The Hawks also shot 50 free throws in the game, making 36. The Jazz were in the penalty not even three minutes into the second quarter. C.J. Miles and Jason Hart committed back-to-back fouls and Kyrylo Fesenko was called for two more personals.
Marvin Williams scored 21 points and 11 of them came from the foul line. Between them, Williams, Josh Smith and Joe Johnson shot 33 free throws. Combine that with the Hawks' 57.6 percent shooting and Jerry Sloan figured his team had to play a perfect game to win.
"This is pretty much identical to what we've run into," Sloan said. "We've missed free throws. We've given up way too many easy shots. Field-goal percentage against us has been really high. You've got to [have] a perfect finish. The way we've been playing is not close to that.
"I think you have to give them credit. They came back and won the ball game. They wanted the ball game a little bit more than they did."
More Sloan: "What's been pretty much consistent is what have we done in the fourth quarter? We have to be able to make plays and you have to be able to make shots. We lose confidence in our offense and try to go maybe a little bit too much within ourself."
Boozer did finish with 39 points, two shy of his career high, and he was slipping screens all game long. Not sure if Sloan was talking specifically about Boozer, but he did comment on the Jazz doing too much of it afterward.
"You're looking for something quick," Sloan said. "You've got to be a little more forceful to stay with what you're doing and set better screens to get somebody clear and open for a shot."
The Jazz are at a crossroads on this trip. They can either pack it in and hope they can regroup after Christmas when the schedule turns in their favor. Or they can finally get things righted on the road. I'd say even a 2-2 split would be a positive at this point.
* * *
A couple of things: Andrei Kirilenko missed the three three-pointers he took Monday and is now 4-for-27 beyond the arc this season. That's 14.8 percent and definitely not what the Jazz are looking for. Kirilenko also had five turnovers in the game.
Kyrylo Fesenko is going to take one step backward for every step he takes forward. That's just how young big men are. He went 0-for-3 with three fouls and two turnovers in 8 minutes. As long as Fesenko is foul-prone, the Jazz will give up free points at the line.
Sloan was desperate enough to win Monday's game that Boozer, Williams and Kirilenko all came back on short rest to start the fourth quarter. Boozer played 21:47 of the second half, Williams played 21:02 and Kirilenko played 23:17 - - all but 43 seconds.
* * *
If you want to vent, have at it here. We'll check in Tuesday from Charlotte with a story about how the Jazz's schedule has basically eliminated practice time for the better part of the last month.
--Ross Siler
12:19 AM
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2 Comments:
If you told me that the Jazz were going to LOSE 7 of 8 rather than WIN 7 of 8 at any point in the season, I would have called you crazy. I don't know what else to vent about, they just plain suck right now.
If Fesenko is taking one step backward, what is Collins doing?
Fess had 3 rebounds and a block in 8 minutes of play (along with 3 fouls and 2 turnovers).
Collins? 3 rebounds, 0 blocks, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 27 minutes.
So Fess makes some mistakes and we say "oh, well, he's young and prone to mistakes."
Collins sucks and we say, "Oh, well, he played hard - that's what you're going to get out of Collins."
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