Jazz 101, Clippers 79
Before the game, we asked Phil Johnson how many Jazz games he'd missed in all the years as Jerry Sloan's top assistant coach. The answer? None. Four or five years ago, Johnson got sick in the middle of the second half of a game against Minnesota and stayed in the locker room. But he never has missed a game entirely.
As remarkable as it is that Sloan has called in sick for only two games in 21 seasons as Jazz coach, Johnson actually has him beat. I was most interested to see how much things would change with Sloan home sick Saturday and Johnson coaching, but the truth is that things changed very little.
Johnson took care of all his usual pregame responsibilities, chiefly drawing up the scouting report on the locker room board, and did Sloan's round of pregame interviews. After the game, Johnson did his usual interview with Tom Nissalke for KFAN and then stepped behind the podium to talk to the writers and TV crews.
No surprise that Johnson brought in Andrei Kirilenko for C.J. Miles with 6:15 left in the first quarter and replaced Ronnie Price in the second quarter with Brevin Knight. The Jazz played pretty much the same defense for Johnson as they did for Sloan in the opener, trading baskets with the Clippers all first half.
The second half was a little more interesting. Johnson switched the Jazz into a zone defense coming out of a timeout with 6:37 left. Ronnie Brewer came up with a steal, and although Miles couldn't finish the fast break with a layup, the zone forced the Clippers into a bunch of missed three-pointers and helped the Jazz pull away.
Johnson had the option to bring in Kirilenko for Miles during that timeout, but he opted to give Miles a couple extra minutes. Miles ended up coming out with 4:55 left in the third. He also went to Knight a little earlier than expected after Ronnie Price needed help closing a cut with 3:13 to go in the quarter.
Johnson's most interesting decision was probably to keep Ronnie Brewer in the game for the start of the fourth. Brewer scored nine of the Jazz's 15 points to close the third quarter, but had gotten so conditioned to being a first- and third-quarter player that he was caught off guard when Johnson told him he was going back in.
Johnson said he wanted to be careful with Kyle Korver nursing a wrist injury. Brewer played only 1:45 into the fourth, but the Jazz were able to stretch a 15-0 run into an 18-0 run and Brewer made an extra trip to the foul line.
After that run, Johnson didn't have to do a lot of worrying. He was able to get Kosta Koufos, Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko all into the game. It might be the first and only time Jazz fans ever will see that. Only two of them at a time can be assigned to the D-League's Utah Flash. I would be surprised if it happened again.
Johnson was happy to reward Koufos for his hard work in practice, but joked that he thought the rookie center was so excited, he was going to pass out. Just from a reporter's perspective, it was fun/interesting/different to talk to Johnson instead of Sloan after the game, though Sloan is both patient and great.
* * *
Let's see how quickly I can sum up Saturday's game: Ronnie Price drove past Jason Hart for a layup to start and Carlos Boozer did the same to Chris Kaman. Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley scored 21 of the Clippers' 25 points in the first quarter. Mobley hit a couple of jaw-dropping turnaround jumpers in the second quarter and had 17 points by halftime.
The Jazz traded baskets all half, but went into the locker room tied 48-48. Andrei Kirilenko made a really nice play just before halftime, coming up with a steal and whipping a behind-the-back pass to Paul Millsap for a fast-break dunk. With Baron Davis injured, Jason Hart started for the Clippers but was replaced by Mike Taylor in the second half.
Playing the second game of a back-to-back set, the Clippers faded in the second half. No surprise since they arrived in Utah after 3 a.m. It's easily overlooked, but one reason the Jazz are such a good home team is that the back-to-back in which teams play one night in the Pacific time zone and fly here is just about the worst in the NBA.
Brevin Knight had a couple of nice assists as the Jazz closed the third quarter on a 15-0 run. He fed Kirilenko on the break and hit Millsap for a jumper with 1.5 seconds left. For those scoring at home, Knight finished with eight points and six assists in 22 minutes while Hart had two points and two assists in 15 minutes for the Clippers.
Carlos Boozer now is averaging 25 points and 12 rebounds in two games and went around Kaman like a turnstile a couple of times Saturday. The Jazz were able to get Morris Almond, Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko into the game late in the fourth quarter; Almond matched his career-high with five points.
* * *
A couple of things that I couldn't get into the paper on a tough night for space with so much going on:
Kyle Korver played Saturday but went for a cortisone shot on his right wrist Friday. Korver said at shootaround that he'd been having wrist issues for a while but aggravated the injury taking a charge in Wednesday's game. He's feeling better, though, and had four points against the Clippers. Korver did have a pretty large wrap on his wrist while he sat on the bench.
The Jazz announced sellouts at 40 of 41 home games last season. We're two games into this season and already the Jazz have had a less-than-capacity crowd. They announced attendance of 19,602 Saturday, which is about 300 shy of a sellout. We'll see if this is the start of a trend or merely the product of a Saturday game against the Clippers on a 70-degree day with Utah and Brigham Young both playing
--Ross Siler
As remarkable as it is that Sloan has called in sick for only two games in 21 seasons as Jazz coach, Johnson actually has him beat. I was most interested to see how much things would change with Sloan home sick Saturday and Johnson coaching, but the truth is that things changed very little.
Johnson took care of all his usual pregame responsibilities, chiefly drawing up the scouting report on the locker room board, and did Sloan's round of pregame interviews. After the game, Johnson did his usual interview with Tom Nissalke for KFAN and then stepped behind the podium to talk to the writers and TV crews.
No surprise that Johnson brought in Andrei Kirilenko for C.J. Miles with 6:15 left in the first quarter and replaced Ronnie Price in the second quarter with Brevin Knight. The Jazz played pretty much the same defense for Johnson as they did for Sloan in the opener, trading baskets with the Clippers all first half.
The second half was a little more interesting. Johnson switched the Jazz into a zone defense coming out of a timeout with 6:37 left. Ronnie Brewer came up with a steal, and although Miles couldn't finish the fast break with a layup, the zone forced the Clippers into a bunch of missed three-pointers and helped the Jazz pull away.
Johnson had the option to bring in Kirilenko for Miles during that timeout, but he opted to give Miles a couple extra minutes. Miles ended up coming out with 4:55 left in the third. He also went to Knight a little earlier than expected after Ronnie Price needed help closing a cut with 3:13 to go in the quarter.
Johnson's most interesting decision was probably to keep Ronnie Brewer in the game for the start of the fourth. Brewer scored nine of the Jazz's 15 points to close the third quarter, but had gotten so conditioned to being a first- and third-quarter player that he was caught off guard when Johnson told him he was going back in.
Johnson said he wanted to be careful with Kyle Korver nursing a wrist injury. Brewer played only 1:45 into the fourth, but the Jazz were able to stretch a 15-0 run into an 18-0 run and Brewer made an extra trip to the foul line.
After that run, Johnson didn't have to do a lot of worrying. He was able to get Kosta Koufos, Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko all into the game. It might be the first and only time Jazz fans ever will see that. Only two of them at a time can be assigned to the D-League's Utah Flash. I would be surprised if it happened again.
Johnson was happy to reward Koufos for his hard work in practice, but joked that he thought the rookie center was so excited, he was going to pass out. Just from a reporter's perspective, it was fun/interesting/different to talk to Johnson instead of Sloan after the game, though Sloan is both patient and great.
* * *
Let's see how quickly I can sum up Saturday's game: Ronnie Price drove past Jason Hart for a layup to start and Carlos Boozer did the same to Chris Kaman. Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley scored 21 of the Clippers' 25 points in the first quarter. Mobley hit a couple of jaw-dropping turnaround jumpers in the second quarter and had 17 points by halftime.
The Jazz traded baskets all half, but went into the locker room tied 48-48. Andrei Kirilenko made a really nice play just before halftime, coming up with a steal and whipping a behind-the-back pass to Paul Millsap for a fast-break dunk. With Baron Davis injured, Jason Hart started for the Clippers but was replaced by Mike Taylor in the second half.
Playing the second game of a back-to-back set, the Clippers faded in the second half. No surprise since they arrived in Utah after 3 a.m. It's easily overlooked, but one reason the Jazz are such a good home team is that the back-to-back in which teams play one night in the Pacific time zone and fly here is just about the worst in the NBA.
Brevin Knight had a couple of nice assists as the Jazz closed the third quarter on a 15-0 run. He fed Kirilenko on the break and hit Millsap for a jumper with 1.5 seconds left. For those scoring at home, Knight finished with eight points and six assists in 22 minutes while Hart had two points and two assists in 15 minutes for the Clippers.
Carlos Boozer now is averaging 25 points and 12 rebounds in two games and went around Kaman like a turnstile a couple of times Saturday. The Jazz were able to get Morris Almond, Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko into the game late in the fourth quarter; Almond matched his career-high with five points.
* * *
A couple of things that I couldn't get into the paper on a tough night for space with so much going on:
Kyle Korver played Saturday but went for a cortisone shot on his right wrist Friday. Korver said at shootaround that he'd been having wrist issues for a while but aggravated the injury taking a charge in Wednesday's game. He's feeling better, though, and had four points against the Clippers. Korver did have a pretty large wrap on his wrist while he sat on the bench.
The Jazz announced sellouts at 40 of 41 home games last season. We're two games into this season and already the Jazz have had a less-than-capacity crowd. They announced attendance of 19,602 Saturday, which is about 300 shy of a sellout. We'll see if this is the start of a trend or merely the product of a Saturday game against the Clippers on a 70-degree day with Utah and Brigham Young both playing
--Ross Siler
12:26 AM
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