Thursday, October 30, 2008

   Don't let anybody tell you basketball isn't a game of inches. The Jazz won their opener Wednesday night without Deron Williams because of three or four plays in the final minute in which the difference one way or another was that small.

    Start with Linas Kleiza's jumper with 40.8 seconds left. Kleiza hadn't hit a shot all night, including two airballs, before finally connecting. But he couldn't get his feet behind the three-point arc, so the Nuggets were left trailing 91-90 instead of tied 91-91.

    "It's a different game if LK doesn't step on the line. That was a big play, too," Denver coach George Karl said. "Him stepping on the line was a big-time play. I could see from where I was that he did step on the line."

    Next came Carlos Boozer's recovery with 26.0 seconds to play. Boozer nearly had the ball stripped out of his hands but managed to dive after it and call timeout. The Jazz tried to punch the ball into Boozer, only to have Ronnie Price's pass deflected.

    But Boozer was able to recover and hit an 8-footer over Kenyon Martin to give the Jazz a 93-90 lead. "We had a little bit of luck," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said, "and a couple of things bounced our way."

    The game-turning play, though, probably was Chris Andersen's lane violation, which gave Kyle Korver a second chance at the foul line with 12.5 seconds remaining. Andersen appeared to stick his foot in the lane almost from the time Korver raised up to shoot.

    Korver said afterward a warning about lane violations had been issued before the call. Karl noted that the NBA was trying to clean up the end of games.

    From the points of emphasis video we've seen, that has more to do with players grabbing jerseys on inbounds plays in the final seconds. Those are going to be away-from-the-play calls this season. But Karl's points was interesting nonetheless.

    * * *

    It was long forgotten by the end of that wild game, but I think a significant reason the Jazz were able to win was because they avoided point guard chaos in the second quarter.

    With both Ronnie Price and Brevin Knight having picked up two fouls, the Jazz finished the quarter with Andrei Kirilenko playing point guard. That didn't go so well when Kirilenko was stripped and Allen Iverson ran for a layup on the fast break.

    Sloan brought back Price to start the second quarter and he was able to make it to halftime without picking up a third foul. The Jazz traded baskets with Denver the entire half, but they could have been in much, much worse shape than leading 50-46.

    * * *

    It will be interesting to watch how roles evolve during the season. C.J. Miles started and had a highlight dunk in the first quarter but played only 13 minutes for the game. He didn't come back in either the second of fourth quarters.

    Ronnie Brewer had a great third quarter, meanwhile, hitting three jumpers and hustling back on defense to deny Linas Kleiza a layup. But Brewer didn't come back in the fourth quarter, even after Kyle Korver had a pass stolen for a dunk by Renaldo Balkman.

    * * *

    What was Deron Williams like on the bench during Wednesday's game?

    "He was talking the whole time. I was like, 'Dude, shut up, I'm trying to focus,'" Kyle Korver said. "He obviously wants to play. He did everything he could to try to get back. It was a bad sprain. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer until he's back out there."

    What did Carlos Boozer think of his block on Nene in the last two minutes?

    "I was just hoping he'd cock it back a little bit, so I can get a piece of it," Boozer said. "I'm not one of those high risers like K-Mart so I had to do what I had to do."

    Boozer had a couple of plays go against him down the stretch - - that foul on Kenyon Martin, that Nene three-point play - - but he came up big with that block, as well as fouling out Nene with a quick first step.

    * * *

    How did the Jazz build that 14-point lead in the second half? Well, they took advantage of three missed shots by Linas Kleiza as well as two missed free throws by Nene. They also hustled back on defense, with Mehmet Okur breaking up an Allen Iverson alley-oop.

    They got tough, with Carlos Boozer laying out Iverson on a pick to free Ronnie Price for an 18-footer. Price fed both Boozer and Okur off the pick-and-roll for baskets. The Jazz led 75-61 after an Andrei Kirilenko three-pointer.

    * * *

    I don't know if you've heard the radio ads for Randy Horiuchi, a Democrat running for Salt Lake County Council, but they include a Hot Rod Hundley impersonation.

    To emphasize his experience, Horiuchi has the imitator baffled by the decision to send somebody else out instead of Deron Williams to shoot two free throws in the fourth quarter of a Jazz game.

    I asked Hundley before the game if he'd heard the ads and he said no. Told that Horiuchi was a Democrat, he said, "I can take care of that ad. Tell them I'm voting for McCain and Sarah."

    * * *

    We didn't get the chance to see Morris Almond or rookie Kosta Koufos in Wednesday's game, but we did learn that Koufos has to be considered ahead of Kyrylo Fesenko right now in the eyes of the coaching staff.

    With two spots available on the active roster and three choices, the Jazz opted to dress Almond and Koufos and leave Fesenko inactive. Have to admit being a little surprised since Fesenko has been with the Jazz longer and had that impressive game in Portland.

    * * *

    Even though he's in the starting five, C.J. Miles still does the same handshake rituals with the starters he did last season as a reserve. He's got his finger-wagging one with Mehmet Okur, which is supposed to play off Okur's "Money" nickname. Miles and Ronnie Brewer also faked jumping into each other, then turned and jumped into each other for real.

    --Ross Siler