Saturday, April 11, 2009

   Admit it: You don't watch the Jazz as a five-man unit right now, you focus on what Carlos Boozer is doing when he's on the court.

    You watch to see if he's going to hit those layups, hooks and jumpers he did so regularly before knee surgery. You watch to see how he's going to do when the Spurs isolate Tim Duncan or Drew Gooden on him in the post.

    You groan when Gooden beats him with that up-and-under move in the second quarter. You pause when Jerry Sloan brings back Paul Millsap with two fouls - - something Sloan almost never does - - for the final 5:39 of the first half to replace Boozer.

    You look to see Deron Williams' reaction when Boozer gets stripped on the pick-and-roll, when he can't slide over in the lane on defense, when he can't get his hands on an entry pass that skips out of bounds.

    You also watch to see the reaction when Boozer hits two critical jumpers in the fourth quarter or when he goes to the foul line in the final seconds with the Jazz calling timeouts and doing everything to extend the game.

    The fact is - - good and bad - - Boozer is the dominant story right now with the Jazz. He was 4-for-12 with 15 points and eight rebounds in Friday's game and has gone 22-for-65 (33.8 percent) in the Jazz's last five games.

    "I'm pulling the strings as to know who to play and how to play them," Sloan said. "It's not an exact science.

    "I want everybody to play well and it's been tough to try to get Boozer the minutes because we haven't had the chance to practice too much because of the schedule and travel and all that.

    "Just keep working at it. Having been a player myself, the easiest thing now to do is to get out in the street and start yelling at each other. The biggest thing to do is just go play basketball and that's where you find out who you are."

    Boozer said: "The first half was tough, but the second half, I thought I played a lot better, more aggressive, did better on both sides of the ball. But for us, we missed some plays, had a chance to win the game, but we missed some free throws, missed some layups."

    There were a handful of questions about his own play after the game. Boozer turned them all back to the Jazz's play as a team.

    Pressed specifically about being 100 percent going into the playoffs - - as he has maintained all along - - he said: "I think I feel close to it. Not 100 percent, but close enough."

    As up and down as Williams was after returning from his sprained ankle, Sloan said he knew Boozer would struggle after losing 44 games to knee surgery. It has been 22 games and counting since Boozer's return, with few signs that he is close to turning a corner.

    * * *

    The Jazz probably have to win out in order to stay out of the No. 8 seed, assuming New Orleans beats Dallas on Sunday and splits its last two games at Houston and San Antonio while the Mavericks close out with home wins against Minnesota and Houston.

    The good news is that there's no way the Jazz lose Saturday to the severely shorthanded Warriors, who are missing Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Monta Ellis and Jamal Crawford.

    The Warriors dressed the minimum eight players for Friday's loss to Houston, but only with Marco Belinelli suiting up despite a sprained ankle. Belinelli didn't play, which left Golden State with only seven healthy players.

    As a result, Kelenna Azubuike started and played all 48 minutes, Anthony Morrow started and played 45:32 and C.J. Watson started and played 47:58. Hard to imagine they're going to have much left for the back-to-back.

    * * *

    The Jazz might not have a better chance to beat the Spurs in San Antonio than they did Friday. Not only was Manu Ginobili out with a season-ending stress fracture in his ankle, but Tim Duncan was out of rhythm pretty much the whole game.

    Playing on two bad knees, Duncan had 14 points, nine rebounds and six turnovers. He threw away three passes in the first quarter alone. Duncan had a couple of jumpers, a couple of early bank shots and hit a couple of free throws but was otherwise not himself.

    Tony Parker, however, had no concerns about ankles or knees or whatever. He was flat-out awesome. Parker had eight points in the first quarter before picking up his second personal with 5:58 left and heading to the bench.

    Jazz coach Jerry Sloan called timeout only 3:37 in after watching Parker explode down the lane for a layup. Parker came back to start the second quarter and sparked the Spurs on a 17-5 run to go up 41-26.

    With Parker commanding so much attention from the defense, Matt Bonner could knock down an open jumper. Parker had 16 points in the first half and slammed the door on the Jazz in the fourth after they closed within four.

    "He's a guy you can't really guard by yourself," Deron Williams said. "I don't think anybody in this league can stop him one-on-one. I feel the same way. The best players in the league, they feel the same way.

    "I thought we did a lot better job of helping in the second half. They just made some plays down the stretch and we didn't. We missed some tough shots, we missed some easy layups and that gives them confidence."

    * * *

    Nice gesture by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich before the game, walking over to the Jazz bench to congratulate Jerry Sloan on being selected to the Hall of Fame. Michael Finley did as well, just before player introductions.

    * * *

    I didn't want to say anything in the last week or so, because it looked like the Jazz were going to nail the number on the nose, but Friday's loss officially means my preseason prediction of 51-31 won't come true.

    Obviously, nobody could have accounted for the injuries, but I think the Jazz have largely won the games we expected them to (home) and lost the ones we also expected them to (road). If they win out, the Jazz will finish 50-32, a third straight 50-win season.

    --Ross Siler