Jazz 110, Hornets 88
You have to give credit to Ronnie Price for the way he's taken advantage of his opportunity with Jason Hart missing a sixth game Monday with a back injury. According to Jerry Sloan, though, Hart is going to reclaim his job as backup point guard whenever he returns.
I asked Sloan specifically about the situation after Monday's game. His answer? "I've never taken away a guy's job from him because of injury. That's only fair. [Price's] gotten a chance to play, they practice against each other and we go from there."
Price gave the Jazz more good minutes in Monday's victory over New Orleans. He was on the floor when the Jazz made their big run to start the second quarter, finding Kyle Korver for three of his four three-pointers and twice stripping Chris Paul on defense.
It's hard to judge Price based on his stats because he plays so few minutes (9:21 Monday, 0-for-1, 3 points, 3 assists, 2 steals) but you can look at plus/minus numbers to evaluate how the team plays when he's on the floor.
Here's the breakdown for Price from the six games Hart has missed: New Orleans (plus-4), Memphis (plus-8), Washington (plus-3), New York (plus-6), San Antonio (zero), Houston (zero).
That's an overall plus-21 in 62 minutes of game action. Price definitely has had his moments, especially late in the third quarter at Houston and in the second quarter at Washington with Deron Williams lost for 8:30 in foul trouble.
* * *
Just call it "The Dunk." With 9:39 left in the third quarter, Deron Williams beat Chris Paul on a drive and threw down a ferocious dunk that Tyson Chandler wisely chose not to contest. The only question afterward was whether it was the best dunk of Williams' career.
C.J. Miles said it was definitely the hardest dunk he'd ever seen by Williams, but Miles pointed to a dunk last season against Brad Miller as more spectacular. Carlos Boozer brought up a dunk Williams once had on Ike Diogu.
Wasn't around for Williams' first two seasons, so I can't weigh in. Williams said he liked the Diogu dunk because they were almost chest to chest around the basket. He hammered Monday's dunk because he thought Chandler would try to block it.
"See Tyson didn't really jump," Williams said. "I thought he was going to jump, that's why I went hard because if I would have went up soft, he would have blocked it."
Almost wish the Jazz hadn't hit a franchise-record 14 three-pointers in Monday's game because it took away from just how dominant Williams was against Chris Paul and the highlights Williams had in the second half.
In the fourth quarter, he beat Jannero Pargo with a crossover and went hard down the lane at Chandler, hitting the shot and drawing a foul. Williams came back in the quarter with a one-handed finger-roll. That's eight straight double-doubles for Williams.
* * *
The day Kyle Korver was acquired from Philadelphia, the Jazz ranked dead last in the NBA in made three-pointers, averaging 3.6 a game. Now consider that Korver hit four himself in a 2:16 stretch of the second quarter in Monday's victory.
The Jazz are now up to 4.4 made three-pointers a game. If my math's correct, that means they're averaging 5.8 a game since Korver showed up. The Jazz also are now 15-2 with Korver, who must feel like he hit the jackpot in getting traded to Utah.
"I'm just playing off these guys," Korver said. "I'm not out there creating my own shot by any means. We just have a lot of weapons and you have to guard everybody. That really opens stuff up for me and I finally had a good shooting night in this arena."
* * *
Something's got to give when the Jazz play in Denver on Wednesday. The Nuggets are averaging 106 points a game and the Jazz have given up 92 during this nine-game winning streak - - 89.5 if you take away that 113-point aberration against Sacramento.
If the Jazz can win that game, you've got to believe they have a pretty good chance of reaching the All-Star break with a 13-game winning streak. Their final four games: at Denver, at Sacramento, Chicago, at Seattle.
--Ross Siler
I asked Sloan specifically about the situation after Monday's game. His answer? "I've never taken away a guy's job from him because of injury. That's only fair. [Price's] gotten a chance to play, they practice against each other and we go from there."
Price gave the Jazz more good minutes in Monday's victory over New Orleans. He was on the floor when the Jazz made their big run to start the second quarter, finding Kyle Korver for three of his four three-pointers and twice stripping Chris Paul on defense.
It's hard to judge Price based on his stats because he plays so few minutes (9:21 Monday, 0-for-1, 3 points, 3 assists, 2 steals) but you can look at plus/minus numbers to evaluate how the team plays when he's on the floor.
Here's the breakdown for Price from the six games Hart has missed: New Orleans (plus-4), Memphis (plus-8), Washington (plus-3), New York (plus-6), San Antonio (zero), Houston (zero).
That's an overall plus-21 in 62 minutes of game action. Price definitely has had his moments, especially late in the third quarter at Houston and in the second quarter at Washington with Deron Williams lost for 8:30 in foul trouble.
* * *
Just call it "The Dunk." With 9:39 left in the third quarter, Deron Williams beat Chris Paul on a drive and threw down a ferocious dunk that Tyson Chandler wisely chose not to contest. The only question afterward was whether it was the best dunk of Williams' career.
C.J. Miles said it was definitely the hardest dunk he'd ever seen by Williams, but Miles pointed to a dunk last season against Brad Miller as more spectacular. Carlos Boozer brought up a dunk Williams once had on Ike Diogu.
Wasn't around for Williams' first two seasons, so I can't weigh in. Williams said he liked the Diogu dunk because they were almost chest to chest around the basket. He hammered Monday's dunk because he thought Chandler would try to block it.
"See Tyson didn't really jump," Williams said. "I thought he was going to jump, that's why I went hard because if I would have went up soft, he would have blocked it."
Almost wish the Jazz hadn't hit a franchise-record 14 three-pointers in Monday's game because it took away from just how dominant Williams was against Chris Paul and the highlights Williams had in the second half.
In the fourth quarter, he beat Jannero Pargo with a crossover and went hard down the lane at Chandler, hitting the shot and drawing a foul. Williams came back in the quarter with a one-handed finger-roll. That's eight straight double-doubles for Williams.
* * *
The day Kyle Korver was acquired from Philadelphia, the Jazz ranked dead last in the NBA in made three-pointers, averaging 3.6 a game. Now consider that Korver hit four himself in a 2:16 stretch of the second quarter in Monday's victory.
The Jazz are now up to 4.4 made three-pointers a game. If my math's correct, that means they're averaging 5.8 a game since Korver showed up. The Jazz also are now 15-2 with Korver, who must feel like he hit the jackpot in getting traded to Utah.
"I'm just playing off these guys," Korver said. "I'm not out there creating my own shot by any means. We just have a lot of weapons and you have to guard everybody. That really opens stuff up for me and I finally had a good shooting night in this arena."
* * *
Something's got to give when the Jazz play in Denver on Wednesday. The Nuggets are averaging 106 points a game and the Jazz have given up 92 during this nine-game winning streak - - 89.5 if you take away that 113-point aberration against Sacramento.
If the Jazz can win that game, you've got to believe they have a pretty good chance of reaching the All-Star break with a 13-game winning streak. Their final four games: at Denver, at Sacramento, Chicago, at Seattle.
--Ross Siler
1:04 AM
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1 Comments:
What a fabulous win. Williams just sillied Paul all night.
Can someone please explain that tech on Brewer? I mean, when you're falling down and a guy is falling on top of you, do you not have the right to extend your arm so you don't get your head landed on?
Nice to see Korver have a breakout little stretch there. Teams have been staying home on him and have paid for it with the Jazz getting to the hoop. Last night they doubled the cutter more often and Korver showed them why they should stay home. It really gives the Jazz a new look.
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