Jazz 97, Spurs 91
If you walked into EnergySolutions Arena on Monday night and didn't know anything about basketball, you probably would have left thinking the Jazz were the team to have won four championships in nine years and the Spurs were the team out of playoff position.
Tim Duncan had seven turnovers and played like he'd never had a second defender run at him in his career. Ime Udoka picked up an inexcusable technical foul, with 1:27 left and his team trailing 91-89. Tony Parker went 1-for-7 and had four turnovers.
The Jazz, by comparison, nearly controlled the game from start to finish and withstood the run they knew was coming from the Spurs. They set the tone in the first quarter, holding the Spurs to 19 points and forcing six turnovers.
Matt Harpring also deserves credit for making three big plays in the last 90 seconds. Kyle Korver's three-pointer in the game's final minute will get all the attention, but Harpring did the dirty work to get him that shot.
Korver had missed a three-pointer with 1:11 left, but Harpring grabbed the offensive rebound to keep possession. He got open inside for a Carlos Boozer pass only to stumble and shovel the ball back out to Korver.
Korver hit a big-time three-pointer a tick ahead of the shot clock running out. Harpring also hit an 18-footer with 25.2 seconds left to keep the Jazz ahead by six and put away the Spurs for good.
What's interesting is that Harpring's minutes have started to be impacted by Korver's arrival. For the second consecutive game, Korver opened the fourth quarter with a defensive matchup he couldn't handle.
It was Tracy McGrady on Sunday and Manu Ginobili on Monday. Ginobili opened the fourth quarter by hitting two jumpers and beating Korver on a drive that ended with two free throws. Jerry Sloan brought back Andrei Kirilenko only 1:45 into the quarter.
Instead of Kirilenko replacing Korver, however, he subbed in for Harpring, who had played only the last 34.3 seconds of the third quarter. Korver switched over to Udoka and stayed in the game for the entire fourth quarter.
Harpring came back for the final 3:53 after the Spurs went small, but it's worth noting that Korver's shooting is so valuable that he's getting minutes ahead of Ronnie Brewer, Harpring and C.J. Miles now.
Asked Harpring after the game if he thought the Jazz were back to playing like the team that finished last season in the conference finals. "I don't know, it's a little early to say," he said. "Right now, we're going through a good stretch. We'll see how it plays out, keep it going."
* * *
If you want the definition of Andrei Kirilenko's patented "spark," look no further than Monday's game. Kirilenko had it nearly from start to finish, hitting every jumper he took and perfectly playing for steals on defense.
Having spent about four hours in the air flying back from Houston because of the snowstorm, I went out to the court early hoping the light would wake me up. Jeff Hornacek was working with Kirilenko and called out "Automatic" at one point.
Sure enough, Kirilenko was "Automatic" against the Spurs. Korver joked that you would think Kirilenko was the player brought in to hit three-pointers as opposed to himself. Sloan offered his take on things as well.
"I think he's worked tremendously hard and spent a lot of time on it," Sloan said. "For some reason, I've never felt like hard work would hurt anybody. I think that's just one of the dividends he's getting paid for now and that's the most important thing.
"He shoots the ball just like he does in practice. The last two or three games, he's shot it with a great deal of confidence. Hasn't hesitated. just comes out and shoots it."
--Ross Siler
Tim Duncan had seven turnovers and played like he'd never had a second defender run at him in his career. Ime Udoka picked up an inexcusable technical foul, with 1:27 left and his team trailing 91-89. Tony Parker went 1-for-7 and had four turnovers.
The Jazz, by comparison, nearly controlled the game from start to finish and withstood the run they knew was coming from the Spurs. They set the tone in the first quarter, holding the Spurs to 19 points and forcing six turnovers.
Matt Harpring also deserves credit for making three big plays in the last 90 seconds. Kyle Korver's three-pointer in the game's final minute will get all the attention, but Harpring did the dirty work to get him that shot.
Korver had missed a three-pointer with 1:11 left, but Harpring grabbed the offensive rebound to keep possession. He got open inside for a Carlos Boozer pass only to stumble and shovel the ball back out to Korver.
Korver hit a big-time three-pointer a tick ahead of the shot clock running out. Harpring also hit an 18-footer with 25.2 seconds left to keep the Jazz ahead by six and put away the Spurs for good.
What's interesting is that Harpring's minutes have started to be impacted by Korver's arrival. For the second consecutive game, Korver opened the fourth quarter with a defensive matchup he couldn't handle.
It was Tracy McGrady on Sunday and Manu Ginobili on Monday. Ginobili opened the fourth quarter by hitting two jumpers and beating Korver on a drive that ended with two free throws. Jerry Sloan brought back Andrei Kirilenko only 1:45 into the quarter.
Instead of Kirilenko replacing Korver, however, he subbed in for Harpring, who had played only the last 34.3 seconds of the third quarter. Korver switched over to Udoka and stayed in the game for the entire fourth quarter.
Harpring came back for the final 3:53 after the Spurs went small, but it's worth noting that Korver's shooting is so valuable that he's getting minutes ahead of Ronnie Brewer, Harpring and C.J. Miles now.
Asked Harpring after the game if he thought the Jazz were back to playing like the team that finished last season in the conference finals. "I don't know, it's a little early to say," he said. "Right now, we're going through a good stretch. We'll see how it plays out, keep it going."
* * *
If you want the definition of Andrei Kirilenko's patented "spark," look no further than Monday's game. Kirilenko had it nearly from start to finish, hitting every jumper he took and perfectly playing for steals on defense.
Having spent about four hours in the air flying back from Houston because of the snowstorm, I went out to the court early hoping the light would wake me up. Jeff Hornacek was working with Kirilenko and called out "Automatic" at one point.
Sure enough, Kirilenko was "Automatic" against the Spurs. Korver joked that you would think Kirilenko was the player brought in to hit three-pointers as opposed to himself. Sloan offered his take on things as well.
"I think he's worked tremendously hard and spent a lot of time on it," Sloan said. "For some reason, I've never felt like hard work would hurt anybody. I think that's just one of the dividends he's getting paid for now and that's the most important thing.
"He shoots the ball just like he does in practice. The last two or three games, he's shot it with a great deal of confidence. Hasn't hesitated. just comes out and shoots it."
--Ross Siler
1:12 AM
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1 Comments:
Thanks for the great insight Ross.
I would add one thing, though. Obviously, Korver is getting minutes down the stretch partially because of his shooting, but I think an even bigger reason is his free throw shooting, not necessarily just 3-pointers.
Think about it, if the Jazz have any kind of lead in the waning minutes of the 4th, having Korver out there is kind of like having Mariano Rivera out there as a closer. At some point if the opposing team fouls, he is automatic. We have seen that several times already as he has helped us hang on to leads in the 4th, whereas we used to choke 4th quarter leads away all the time before his arrival.
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