Timberwolves 110, Jazz 103
With two games remaining against San Antonio, it's still in the realm of possibility that the Jazz could claim the Western Conference's top spot. But they might have blown their best chance to do so with Sunday's crippling loss to Minnesota.
The Jazz ended the day three games behind New Orleans and San Antonio, who are in a first-place tie, as well as 1 1-2 games behind fifth-place Phoenix. It looks like it's going to take what Jerry Sloan calls a "perfect finish" for the Jazz to gain ground.
As one courtside observer noted, Sunday's game didn't help either team playing at Target Center. The Jazz lost for the second time in 34 days to the Timberwolves, who hurt their draft lottery percentages with the victory.
The Jazz went into the fourth quarter trailing 76-74, with Sloan opting to bring both Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer back to start the final period. From that sense of urgency, however, the Jazz fell apart.
It's instructive to look at exactly how the Jazz fell behind by nine in the fourth quarter and why they couldn't dig out from that hole. Craig Smith sparked the Timberwolves, spinning past Boozer before Chris Richard followed up Smith's miss.
Smith also beat Boozer and earned a trip to the foul line. Rashad McCants additionally scored off two drives and hit a jumper to give Minnesota an 89-80 lead.
Just before that, the Timberwolves came up with a loose ball, then watched as Kirk Snyder followed up McCants' desperation three-point heave. It was just one of two key plays in the fourth quarter where the Jazz were outhustled.
There were a lot of little miscues for the Jazz in the fourth. Boozer and Matt Harpring were both called for offensive fouls. Kyle Korver missed two three-pointers on an afternoon in which the Jazz went 1 for 12 from beyond the arc.
Williams also missed a couple of jumpers. The Jazz were able to close within three points three times in the quarter but couldn't get over the hump. Marko Jaric went just 4 of 11 for Minnesota but killed the Jazz at key junctures.
Jaric drove for one layup in the final seconds of the third quarter followed by another that put the Timberwolves ahead 97-92 late. His three-pointer with 2:20 left - - his only make from long range all game - - gave Minnesota a 101-94 lead.
The Jazz committed 18 turnovers for the afternoon and gave up 34 points in the fourth quarter. They gave up 39 points in the fourth quarter in losing to Minnesota on Feb. 26. Moral of the story: You can't just plan to flip the switch in the fourth.
The good news for the Jazz? Washington went all the way to overtime before losing to the Lakers on Sunday. The Jazz and Wizards will play Monday night in the second game of a back-to-back set for each team.
* * *
A day after he was called up from the NBA Development League's Utah Flash (along with fellow rookie Morris Almond), Kyrylo Fesenko went in for the final 37.1 seconds of the third quarter Sunday. It was his first NBA game action since Dec. 22 at Miami.
Fesenko promptly went to the line as Al Jefferson fouled him while fighting for the rebound after McCants' missed free throw. Fesenko was short on both of his attempts and delivered a hard foul to Smith above the shoulders back on defense.
Fesenko did have a great line in the locker room before the game. The Timberwolves printed on my credential that I was there to cover the March 30, 20008 game. Fesenko took a look at that extra zero and asked: "Were you sent here to kill us all?"
Also had a good time giving Almond a little grief about leaving the Flash and then watching as guard Kevin Kruger scored 43 points and hit 10 three-pointers in his first game without Almond. Nobody denies that Almond wasn't getting a lot of shots on that team.
* * *
The Jazz and Boston are the only two teams this season to have beaten every other team in the league at least once. It's not as rare as it sounds - - Houston and Phoenix both did it last season - - but the last time the Jazz did so came in the 1996-97 season.
Of course, what's it worth when the Jazz have dropped games to Miami, New York, Charlotte, Atlanta, Indiana, Chicago, New Jersey, the L.A. Clippers and two apiece to Minnesota and Sacramento? If the Jazz had won just half of those games, they'd be the West's No. 1 seed right now.
--Ross Siler
The Jazz ended the day three games behind New Orleans and San Antonio, who are in a first-place tie, as well as 1 1-2 games behind fifth-place Phoenix. It looks like it's going to take what Jerry Sloan calls a "perfect finish" for the Jazz to gain ground.
As one courtside observer noted, Sunday's game didn't help either team playing at Target Center. The Jazz lost for the second time in 34 days to the Timberwolves, who hurt their draft lottery percentages with the victory.
The Jazz went into the fourth quarter trailing 76-74, with Sloan opting to bring both Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer back to start the final period. From that sense of urgency, however, the Jazz fell apart.
It's instructive to look at exactly how the Jazz fell behind by nine in the fourth quarter and why they couldn't dig out from that hole. Craig Smith sparked the Timberwolves, spinning past Boozer before Chris Richard followed up Smith's miss.
Smith also beat Boozer and earned a trip to the foul line. Rashad McCants additionally scored off two drives and hit a jumper to give Minnesota an 89-80 lead.
Just before that, the Timberwolves came up with a loose ball, then watched as Kirk Snyder followed up McCants' desperation three-point heave. It was just one of two key plays in the fourth quarter where the Jazz were outhustled.
There were a lot of little miscues for the Jazz in the fourth. Boozer and Matt Harpring were both called for offensive fouls. Kyle Korver missed two three-pointers on an afternoon in which the Jazz went 1 for 12 from beyond the arc.
Williams also missed a couple of jumpers. The Jazz were able to close within three points three times in the quarter but couldn't get over the hump. Marko Jaric went just 4 of 11 for Minnesota but killed the Jazz at key junctures.
Jaric drove for one layup in the final seconds of the third quarter followed by another that put the Timberwolves ahead 97-92 late. His three-pointer with 2:20 left - - his only make from long range all game - - gave Minnesota a 101-94 lead.
The Jazz committed 18 turnovers for the afternoon and gave up 34 points in the fourth quarter. They gave up 39 points in the fourth quarter in losing to Minnesota on Feb. 26. Moral of the story: You can't just plan to flip the switch in the fourth.
The good news for the Jazz? Washington went all the way to overtime before losing to the Lakers on Sunday. The Jazz and Wizards will play Monday night in the second game of a back-to-back set for each team.
* * *
A day after he was called up from the NBA Development League's Utah Flash (along with fellow rookie Morris Almond), Kyrylo Fesenko went in for the final 37.1 seconds of the third quarter Sunday. It was his first NBA game action since Dec. 22 at Miami.
Fesenko promptly went to the line as Al Jefferson fouled him while fighting for the rebound after McCants' missed free throw. Fesenko was short on both of his attempts and delivered a hard foul to Smith above the shoulders back on defense.
Fesenko did have a great line in the locker room before the game. The Timberwolves printed on my credential that I was there to cover the March 30, 20008 game. Fesenko took a look at that extra zero and asked: "Were you sent here to kill us all?"
Also had a good time giving Almond a little grief about leaving the Flash and then watching as guard Kevin Kruger scored 43 points and hit 10 three-pointers in his first game without Almond. Nobody denies that Almond wasn't getting a lot of shots on that team.
* * *
The Jazz and Boston are the only two teams this season to have beaten every other team in the league at least once. It's not as rare as it sounds - - Houston and Phoenix both did it last season - - but the last time the Jazz did so came in the 1996-97 season.
Of course, what's it worth when the Jazz have dropped games to Miami, New York, Charlotte, Atlanta, Indiana, Chicago, New Jersey, the L.A. Clippers and two apiece to Minnesota and Sacramento? If the Jazz had won just half of those games, they'd be the West's No. 1 seed right now.
--Ross Siler
12:20 AM
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3 Comments:
Fesenko is by far the best quote machine in the business. Since we recalled him, is he now stuck with the Jazz for the rest of the season? If so its unfortunate since he still needs more playing time.
Fesenko is with the Jazz for the rest of the season. The NBADL only allows a player to be sent down and called up three times. Since Fesenko has been down three times already this year, he's with the team through the playoffs.
There are only 4-5 games left in the NBDL season, so Fesenko isn't missing much...
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