Jazz 77, Hornets 66
They shouldn't have even bothered to play Tuesday night's game at New Orleans Arena. At least that was the conclusion reached by the Jazz beat writers after they saw the assigned referee crew and did a little research.
The thinking was that the Jazz never lose when Utah's own Gary Zielinski works one of their games. As it turns, out the Jazz pretty much never lose when either Zielinksi, Leon Wood or Ron Garretson works one of their games, let alone all three together.
That was the case Tuesday. Sure enough, the Jazz ended the Hornets' 11-game home winning streak with a 77-66 victory. The Jazz are now 6-0 in games refereed by Wood this season, 5-0 with Zielinski and 4-1 with Garretson.
In case you were wondering, the referees who've worked the most Jazz wins this season have been Wood, Dan Crawford (5-0), Dick Bavetta (4-0), Matt Boland (4-0), Tony Brothers (4-0), Tommy Nunez Jr. (4-0), Violet Palmer (4-0) and Tom Washington (4-0).
The referees who have worked the most Jazz losses this season are Tony Brown (2-4), Bill Kennedy (0-3) and Bennett Salvatore (4-3).
The Jazz are 2-2 in games officiated by Steve Javie, 3-2 with Joey Crawford, 3-2 with Bob Delaney and 1-0 with Courtney Kirkland.
I have no idea if referees even keep track of this kind of stuff. Knowing the crew's history with the Jazz, it did make for a fun game to watch, especially when Wood called an offensive foul on David West in the first quarter and one on Jannero Pargo in the second.
For all the conspiracy theorists, the crew didn't help the Jazz too much: Utah matched a franchise-record low by shooting just five free throws in the game. That works for me, though, with Tuesday's game taking just an hour and 56 minutes to play.
* * *
After hitting 37 three-pointers their last three games, the Jazz went just 4 of 19 (21.1 percent) from long range Tuesday. Mehmet Okur (2 of 7) and Kyle Korver (1 of 6) did the bulk of that shooting.
"We have a tendency to think we're going to win the game every game with three-point shots now," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "We've talked so much about me not liking three-point shots, now guys are going to prove that I'm crazy. So whatever."
* * *
It's been four games and counting for Carlos Boozer since his last double-double and maybe Mehmet Okur's partly to blame. Okur's been eating into Boozer's numbers by grabbing 33 rebounds combined in the last two games.
"He already have enough, so I try to get mine," Okur said, jokingly, after Tuesday's game. Boozer came into the day with 50 double-doubles this season, tied for fourth with Deron Williams and Tim Duncan. Dwight Howard leads the league with 66.
Okur has been coming on strong since the All-Star break, averaging 17.3 points and 10.1 rebounds. He scored 11 of the Jazz's first 15 points Tuesday, hit a 19-footer just before halftime and sparked their third-quarter run with a three-pointer.
Okur also made a nice play in the fourth quarter, stripping David West with 2:40 left and the Hornets trying to close within 10. "I'm better in shape right now than before," Okur said, "and try to play hard, try to bring my A-game night in, night out, so I feel good, man."
"We've been wanting that out of Memo all year," Williams said. "For him to be aggressive like that offensively, I think he's being aggressive defensively as well. He's getting stops and playing great defense on guys.
"We're going to have to have that to be successful in the playoffs."
* * *
Asked about the Jazz building momentum before the playoffs, Williams brought up on his own the disappointing loss the Jazz suffered last month at New Jersey after an impressive road victory at Boston.
The Jazz would like to avoid a similar fate playing on the road against Dallas on Thursday after ending New Orleans' home winning streak Tuesday.
"We've got to really focus on Dallas next game," Williams said, "going in and doing the same thing we did tonight - - play great defense, help each other out and execute on offense."
* * *
There's a reason Chris Paul is going to be no higher than third on my MVP ballot and it's the three losses his team had to the Jazz this season.
Paul had 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting and six assists in a 28-point loss on Nov. 23. He had six points on 3-of-11 shooting and six assists in a 22-point loss on Feb. 4. And Paul had four points on 2-of-11 shooting as his team scored just 66 points Tuesday.
* * *
Byron Scott on Tuesday's loss: "It was the first time in a long time that I can remember that we just couldn't make shots on a consistent basis. I don't remember us being cold for an entire game. Again, you have to give them credit on defense, but we just couldn't knock down the shots."
--Ross Siler
The thinking was that the Jazz never lose when Utah's own Gary Zielinski works one of their games. As it turns, out the Jazz pretty much never lose when either Zielinksi, Leon Wood or Ron Garretson works one of their games, let alone all three together.
That was the case Tuesday. Sure enough, the Jazz ended the Hornets' 11-game home winning streak with a 77-66 victory. The Jazz are now 6-0 in games refereed by Wood this season, 5-0 with Zielinski and 4-1 with Garretson.
In case you were wondering, the referees who've worked the most Jazz wins this season have been Wood, Dan Crawford (5-0), Dick Bavetta (4-0), Matt Boland (4-0), Tony Brothers (4-0), Tommy Nunez Jr. (4-0), Violet Palmer (4-0) and Tom Washington (4-0).
The referees who have worked the most Jazz losses this season are Tony Brown (2-4), Bill Kennedy (0-3) and Bennett Salvatore (4-3).
The Jazz are 2-2 in games officiated by Steve Javie, 3-2 with Joey Crawford, 3-2 with Bob Delaney and 1-0 with Courtney Kirkland.
I have no idea if referees even keep track of this kind of stuff. Knowing the crew's history with the Jazz, it did make for a fun game to watch, especially when Wood called an offensive foul on David West in the first quarter and one on Jannero Pargo in the second.
For all the conspiracy theorists, the crew didn't help the Jazz too much: Utah matched a franchise-record low by shooting just five free throws in the game. That works for me, though, with Tuesday's game taking just an hour and 56 minutes to play.
* * *
After hitting 37 three-pointers their last three games, the Jazz went just 4 of 19 (21.1 percent) from long range Tuesday. Mehmet Okur (2 of 7) and Kyle Korver (1 of 6) did the bulk of that shooting.
"We have a tendency to think we're going to win the game every game with three-point shots now," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "We've talked so much about me not liking three-point shots, now guys are going to prove that I'm crazy. So whatever."
* * *
It's been four games and counting for Carlos Boozer since his last double-double and maybe Mehmet Okur's partly to blame. Okur's been eating into Boozer's numbers by grabbing 33 rebounds combined in the last two games.
"He already have enough, so I try to get mine," Okur said, jokingly, after Tuesday's game. Boozer came into the day with 50 double-doubles this season, tied for fourth with Deron Williams and Tim Duncan. Dwight Howard leads the league with 66.
Okur has been coming on strong since the All-Star break, averaging 17.3 points and 10.1 rebounds. He scored 11 of the Jazz's first 15 points Tuesday, hit a 19-footer just before halftime and sparked their third-quarter run with a three-pointer.
Okur also made a nice play in the fourth quarter, stripping David West with 2:40 left and the Hornets trying to close within 10. "I'm better in shape right now than before," Okur said, "and try to play hard, try to bring my A-game night in, night out, so I feel good, man."
"We've been wanting that out of Memo all year," Williams said. "For him to be aggressive like that offensively, I think he's being aggressive defensively as well. He's getting stops and playing great defense on guys.
"We're going to have to have that to be successful in the playoffs."
* * *
Asked about the Jazz building momentum before the playoffs, Williams brought up on his own the disappointing loss the Jazz suffered last month at New Jersey after an impressive road victory at Boston.
The Jazz would like to avoid a similar fate playing on the road against Dallas on Thursday after ending New Orleans' home winning streak Tuesday.
"We've got to really focus on Dallas next game," Williams said, "going in and doing the same thing we did tonight - - play great defense, help each other out and execute on offense."
* * *
There's a reason Chris Paul is going to be no higher than third on my MVP ballot and it's the three losses his team had to the Jazz this season.
Paul had 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting and six assists in a 28-point loss on Nov. 23. He had six points on 3-of-11 shooting and six assists in a 22-point loss on Feb. 4. And Paul had four points on 2-of-11 shooting as his team scored just 66 points Tuesday.
* * *
Byron Scott on Tuesday's loss: "It was the first time in a long time that I can remember that we just couldn't make shots on a consistent basis. I don't remember us being cold for an entire game. Again, you have to give them credit on defense, but we just couldn't knock down the shots."
--Ross Siler
1:05 AM
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1 Comments:
Great win for the Jazz. Deron continues to outplay Chrissy Paul head-to-head.
If Paul is getting consideration for MVP, Deron should too. If Deron shouldn't, then neither should Paul...they are that close.
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