Jazz 120, Pistons 114 - - Double-overtime edition
First of all, when it comes to plowing snow, the Utah Department of Transportation is like the Boston Celtics compared to the Michigan Department of Transportation, which is like the Oklahoma City Thunder . . . and that's being kind.
We drove on two roads today - - Interstate 75 to the Palace and Interstate 94 to the airport. They're kind of important when it comes to getting around. You could have run a sled dog team down I-94 in Wayne County almost 12 hours after the last snow fell.
The Jazz's charter company couldn't get a plane in this afternoon due to all the snow, so they had to stay overnight in Detroit and will fly to Chicago for the second game of the back-to-back set this morning. That's definitely a departure from their normal schedule.
It'll be interesting to see how they handle things. The Bulls also are playing the second game of a back-to-back set after losing Friday to Boston. There was supposedly a blizzard in Boston, so I'm not sure if the Bulls were able to get back tonight.
* * *
I wrote a lot about it in the game story, but it's worth mentioning here: Deron Williams is back. He's also looking forward to repaying Chicago's Derrick Rose for leaving him with a sprained ankle that's still limiting him more than two months later.
Williams was sensational against the Pistons. He scored 15 points in the final 6:28 of the second quarter and helped lead the Jazz back after they fell behind by 12.
I thought Jazz coach Jerry Sloan made a mistake when he decided not to bring back Williams out of a timeout with 8:59 left in the fourth quarter. Williams had already sat for 3:45 at that point; Sloan said afterward he thought he could buy him another minute or two of rest.
Instead, the Jazz gave up six straight points and Sloan had to call timeout with 7:30 left. Williams came back with the Jazz down 80-73 instead of locked in a close game.
So for the second time, Williams had to help lead the Jazz back. He did an expert job of not forcing things as the Pistons had both defenders stay with him on every pick-and-roll. That left Williams dropping passes to Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap.
Then came that shot at the end of regulation against Rodney Stuckey. If you were paying attention when Williams first came back last month, he talked a lot about how much spin moves were causing him problems with that ankle.
So Williams drove left on Stuckey, got a foot in the paint, then planted and spun back on his left foot and nailed a turnaround jumper. I asked him after the game if he could have hit that shot a month ago. He said he couldn't have hit it two weeks ago.
"He's had halves before where I thought, 'That's the old D-Will,'" Kyle Korver said, "but I thought tonight he played great. He was back tonight. He's still fighting some stuff. It'll be interesting to see how fresh he is tomorrow. But he's playing real well."
* * *
Back in the preseason, we sat through a presentation on the points of emphasis for NBA referees this season. One of the referees who worked that game and helped give the presentation was Mark Wunderlich, who was in charge Friday as well.
One of the points of emphasis was on eliminating holding on inbounds plays. In the second overtime Friday, Richard Hamilton fouled out trying to be a roadblock for Deron Williams as he tried to get open on an inbounds.
It was the right call, but also a really tough call to foul out a player like Hamilton, who sent the game to overtime with his jumper at the end of the fourth quarter. There were still more than four minutes left in double overtime; the Pistons had four players foul out in all.
At least we did get a Walter Hermann sighting in the second overtime. Hermann hadn't played at all before he got off the bench to roars to replace Rodney Stuckey. There were several Jazz players on the bench trying to stifle their laughter.
By the way, best heckle of the season so far came in Friday's game. One Pistons fan yelled at 71-year-old referee Jack Nies after one call: "Hey Jack, that's why they don't let old people drive."
* * *
Credit Paul Millsap with his 14th straight double-double Friday, though he needed both overtimes to total his 24 points and 13 assists. Millsap played a career-high 51 minutes, which was even more impressive considering he jammed his shoulder early on.
Millsap most impressed me by stepping to the line with 1:10 left in the second overtime and hitting both free throws to give the Jazz a three-point lead. Remember Millsap came into this season as a career 67.5 percent foul shooter.
"It feels like my work is paying off for me, staying in the gym extra, late, shooting free throws. It's paying off for me," Millsap said.
We also got to see Millsap attempt only his third three-pointer of the season in the fourth quarter Friday. He misfired during that 6-0 run by the Pistons with Williams waiting to check back in.
* * *
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan took the blame for failing to call timeout after Hamilton's jumper with 0.4 seconds left in regulation. The Jazz could have advanced the ball and set up for a last shot. Instead, Andrei Kirilenko looked confused and heaved a baseball pass downcourt.
* * *
The Pistons will have the salary-cap space to make a play for Carlos Boozer, should he opt out after this season and become a free agent, but Detroit is believed to be more interested in signing Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire in the summer of 2010.
Had the Pistons not drafted Darko Milicic in 2003, the Jazz believe they were more interested in Bosh than either Carmelo Anthony or Dwyane Wade.
* * *
Funny moment after the game: Boozer came out of the locker room, where he was greeted by a couple of questions about his MRI exam results (he still was waiting for another opinion). There was a little talk about how well Williams had played before Kyrylo Fesenko walked out and handed Boozer a bottle of water.
Fesenko started to talk, then realized Boozer was in the middle of something with reporters. "I didn't realize it was interview," Fesenko said. To which I replied, "It's just a casual conversation." Boozer seemed to appreciate the humor and slapped hands as he headed off.
--Ross Siler
We drove on two roads today - - Interstate 75 to the Palace and Interstate 94 to the airport. They're kind of important when it comes to getting around. You could have run a sled dog team down I-94 in Wayne County almost 12 hours after the last snow fell.
The Jazz's charter company couldn't get a plane in this afternoon due to all the snow, so they had to stay overnight in Detroit and will fly to Chicago for the second game of the back-to-back set this morning. That's definitely a departure from their normal schedule.
It'll be interesting to see how they handle things. The Bulls also are playing the second game of a back-to-back set after losing Friday to Boston. There was supposedly a blizzard in Boston, so I'm not sure if the Bulls were able to get back tonight.
* * *
I wrote a lot about it in the game story, but it's worth mentioning here: Deron Williams is back. He's also looking forward to repaying Chicago's Derrick Rose for leaving him with a sprained ankle that's still limiting him more than two months later.
Williams was sensational against the Pistons. He scored 15 points in the final 6:28 of the second quarter and helped lead the Jazz back after they fell behind by 12.
I thought Jazz coach Jerry Sloan made a mistake when he decided not to bring back Williams out of a timeout with 8:59 left in the fourth quarter. Williams had already sat for 3:45 at that point; Sloan said afterward he thought he could buy him another minute or two of rest.
Instead, the Jazz gave up six straight points and Sloan had to call timeout with 7:30 left. Williams came back with the Jazz down 80-73 instead of locked in a close game.
So for the second time, Williams had to help lead the Jazz back. He did an expert job of not forcing things as the Pistons had both defenders stay with him on every pick-and-roll. That left Williams dropping passes to Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap.
Then came that shot at the end of regulation against Rodney Stuckey. If you were paying attention when Williams first came back last month, he talked a lot about how much spin moves were causing him problems with that ankle.
So Williams drove left on Stuckey, got a foot in the paint, then planted and spun back on his left foot and nailed a turnaround jumper. I asked him after the game if he could have hit that shot a month ago. He said he couldn't have hit it two weeks ago.
"He's had halves before where I thought, 'That's the old D-Will,'" Kyle Korver said, "but I thought tonight he played great. He was back tonight. He's still fighting some stuff. It'll be interesting to see how fresh he is tomorrow. But he's playing real well."
* * *
Back in the preseason, we sat through a presentation on the points of emphasis for NBA referees this season. One of the referees who worked that game and helped give the presentation was Mark Wunderlich, who was in charge Friday as well.
One of the points of emphasis was on eliminating holding on inbounds plays. In the second overtime Friday, Richard Hamilton fouled out trying to be a roadblock for Deron Williams as he tried to get open on an inbounds.
It was the right call, but also a really tough call to foul out a player like Hamilton, who sent the game to overtime with his jumper at the end of the fourth quarter. There were still more than four minutes left in double overtime; the Pistons had four players foul out in all.
At least we did get a Walter Hermann sighting in the second overtime. Hermann hadn't played at all before he got off the bench to roars to replace Rodney Stuckey. There were several Jazz players on the bench trying to stifle their laughter.
By the way, best heckle of the season so far came in Friday's game. One Pistons fan yelled at 71-year-old referee Jack Nies after one call: "Hey Jack, that's why they don't let old people drive."
* * *
Credit Paul Millsap with his 14th straight double-double Friday, though he needed both overtimes to total his 24 points and 13 assists. Millsap played a career-high 51 minutes, which was even more impressive considering he jammed his shoulder early on.
Millsap most impressed me by stepping to the line with 1:10 left in the second overtime and hitting both free throws to give the Jazz a three-point lead. Remember Millsap came into this season as a career 67.5 percent foul shooter.
"It feels like my work is paying off for me, staying in the gym extra, late, shooting free throws. It's paying off for me," Millsap said.
We also got to see Millsap attempt only his third three-pointer of the season in the fourth quarter Friday. He misfired during that 6-0 run by the Pistons with Williams waiting to check back in.
* * *
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan took the blame for failing to call timeout after Hamilton's jumper with 0.4 seconds left in regulation. The Jazz could have advanced the ball and set up for a last shot. Instead, Andrei Kirilenko looked confused and heaved a baseball pass downcourt.
* * *
The Pistons will have the salary-cap space to make a play for Carlos Boozer, should he opt out after this season and become a free agent, but Detroit is believed to be more interested in signing Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire in the summer of 2010.
Had the Pistons not drafted Darko Milicic in 2003, the Jazz believe they were more interested in Bosh than either Carmelo Anthony or Dwyane Wade.
* * *
Funny moment after the game: Boozer came out of the locker room, where he was greeted by a couple of questions about his MRI exam results (he still was waiting for another opinion). There was a little talk about how well Williams had played before Kyrylo Fesenko walked out and handed Boozer a bottle of water.
Fesenko started to talk, then realized Boozer was in the middle of something with reporters. "I didn't realize it was interview," Fesenko said. To which I replied, "It's just a casual conversation." Boozer seemed to appreciate the humor and slapped hands as he headed off.
--Ross Siler
1:11 AM
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2 Comments:
That was a good game...it's great to see the Jazz battle and to stay focused in OT. Millsap, Okur, and Williams certainly played well.
The matchup with Chicago is going to be a game of who has more energy. Hopefully Williams isn't too worn down, but I doubt that will stop his desire to play against Rose tonight.
To this day I'm still baffled as to why Detroit took Darko ahead of Melo, Bosh, and Wade. Yes, they had a full roster of talent, but that decision to take a risk on Darko seemed to come from a bad development idea. Especially when you're going to be paying the guy $3-5 million a year to develop. Yes, they won a title in 04' so it's difficult to argue about Darko, but it would have been interesting to see where Detroit would be today if they drafted someone else.
Haha, nice response to the Boozer-MRI-Fesenko situation. Funny.
Quite an impressive game. It was a great road win against a formidable team. Like you stated Ross, it was exciting to see the Jazz go into the OT without missing a beat. Good defense, better offense and a disciplined execution allowed the Jazz to win this game.
It was also a fun game to watch.
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