Utah Jazz Notes

That was a very good win for the Jazz tonight against Detroit. It probably seemed like a routine win for most fans, but it was important for the Jazz to keep moving forward after Thursday’s victory in San Antonio, as well as to start a six-game homestand.

The Jazz avoided a third home loss in November, extended their winning streak over the Pistons to nine and could take away all the positives that come with playing a close game like Saturday’s and coming out on the winning end.

In case you were wondering, the Jazz also own nine-game winning streaks against Toronto and Memphis. But the one-sidedness of their series with the Pistons is most impressive considering Detroit’s run of Eastern Conference finals appearances.

Deron Williams said after the game that he thought the Pistons suffered a crippling blow in overtime when Charlie Villanueva fouled out with 3:28 left. Villanueva got called for his fifth and sixth personals in the span of 15 seconds.

The first came on a hold as Villanueva battled for the rebound after Andrei Kirilenko missed a three-pointer, the second as he fouled Carlos Boozer in the lane. Villanueva finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, though he was just 6-for-15 overall and 1-for-6 on threes.

I was also impressed that Williams avoided a meltdown over the fouls that were called on him. Williams was on the verge of boiling over all night - - referee Zach Zarba had his whistle in his mouth, ready to call Williams for a technical - - as he left the court for halftime.

Williams got called for questionable fouls on two plays he thought were blocks. In fact, he was so incensed, he said he didn’t realize he had five fouls when he was playing defense on Will Bynum in the final seconds of overtime.

But Williams played solid defense on Bynum, who lost the ball going up for a layup. “Dikembe” Williams got credited for a block on the play and had three blocks for the night, tying his career high from a Nov. 25, 2007 game against Detroit.

Williams also made a lot of great reads off the pick-and-roll down the stretch. He threw a crosscourt pass to Andrei Kirilenko for Kirilenko’s three-pointer with a minute left in regulation. He found Carlos Boozer popping for a jumper in overtime.

“I thought we did a pretty good job finishing the game for a change,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said, “and that’s what we needed to be able to do and it worked out pretty well.”

Boozer had 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and overtime while Kirilenko had 22 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. He had a big follow-up dunk and three-pointer in the fourth quarter, which made it easy to overlook his 7-for-16 shooting, 1-for-4 on threes.

Kirilenko did commit two turnovers and miss a three-pointer between the final minute of regulation and the first 2 1-2 minutes of overtime, but he got a friendly roll on a jumper with 2:24 left in overtime that provided to be the night’s go-ahead basket.

Judging from his postgame comments, Sloan already is concerned about what will happen once C.J. Miles and Kyle Korver return from injury. It will be nice for the Jazz to suit up more than nine players, but minutes are definitely going to be squeezed.

The Jazz will have two days to enjoy their three-game winning streak before hosting Oklahoma City on Tuesday. The Thunder are not to be overlooked, having beaten San Antonio, Orlando and Miami already this season.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Thunder fare against the Lakers on Sunday. The point guard battle between Williams and Russell Westbrook should be special, as well as watching the Jazz try to match up against Kevin Durant.

* * *

There's still so many games to be played, but the Jazz's quest for the No. 1 overall pick wasn't helped by New York's loss Saturday to New Jersey. The Nets are now 0-13 and in danger of breaking the NBA's all-time record of 17 consecutive losses to start a season.

--Ross Siler

Aside from Ben Wallace’s return after three seasons in Chicago and Cleveland, the Pistons will look almost completely different from past editions when they play the Jazz tonight at EnergySolutions Arena.

Richard Hamilton (sprained ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (ruptured disc) are out for Detroit. The Pistons also spent nearly $100 million this summer to sign Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva as free agents.

“They’re different, but they’ve got some good players,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. “It looks to me like they’re playing hard. They’re a good defensive team, they execute their offense, and I think they’re a very solid basketball team.”

Sloan also offered a pretty good answer when he was asked at shootaround by the FSN Detroit crew about Carlos Boozer’s play this season.

“He’s always been an interesting guy to coach,” Sloan said. “He’s always tried to do what we’ve asked him to do. He likes to score - - how many guys come in this league that don’t like to score? Everybody comes in with that in mind.

“I think he’s in better shape now than he was to start the season. He’s shooting the ball better, and all those things kind of fall in place for him. If you stay with it and keep your nose to it, then eventually it’ll work out.

“If you’re going to use that as an excuse, then it’s never going to work out, and I appreciate the fact that he’s tried to come and do the best he can.”

--Ross Siler

For the fifth consecutive game, the Jazz will be down to just nine players Saturday against the Pistons. Mehmet Okur went home from the pregame shootaround, apparently still battling flu-like symptoms, and will not play against his former team.

“That’s our normal number this year,” Deron Williams cracked. “We’re used to it.”

Already missing Matt Harpring, C.J. Miles and Kyle Korver to start the season, the Jazz lost Ronnie Price to a sprained left big toe Nov. 9 against New York. Okur was said Thursday to be doing better, but still will miss his third straight game.

The Jazz will opt to start Kyrylo Fesenko in Okur’s absence. Undrafted rookie Wesley Matthews remains in the starting lineup, where he was joined last weekend by fellow rookie Eric Maynor after Williams left the team with his daughter undergoing medical testing.

Despite their depleted ranks, the Jazz came into Saturday having won three of their last four games, even ending a decade-long losing streak in San Antonio with a victory Thursday.

“We learned to deal with it last year, I think, with all the injuries we had last year,” Williams said. “It’s kind of normal to us now. It is what it is. You can’t really do anything about injuries and sickness.”

“We’ve got three guys that are getting to play that maybe never would have gotten a chance to play if hadn’t been for all the injuries,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan added. “Hopefully, that will help them become better players and realize that hard work will make them better.”

Miles continues to make progress in his return from left thumb surgery. He has worked out with assistant coach Tyrone Corbin in recent days, but remains uncertain about his return. Miles is trying to be conservative rather than risk reinjuring the thumb.

“[Friday] I had a really good [workout] and I’ve been shooting the ball better and better as time’s gone on,” Miles said.

--Ross Siler

After beating Toronto for a ninth consecutive time Wednesday, the Jazz will look to do the same Saturday against Detroit. If nothing else, Boozer has the opportunity for payback after the Pistons spent their free-agent dollars elsewhere this summer.

The Pistons signed Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to a combined $95.7 million in contracts, including a combined $16.5 million this season. They could have opted for Boozer instead, but made their preferences known.

Boozer, of course, opted in for the final year of his contract at $12.7 million rather than becoming a free agent. Had the Pistons expressed interest, it might have been a different story. Either way, Boozer can prove them wrong Saturday.

Boozer has averaged 19.4 points and 11.7 rebounds against the Pistons in his career while shooting 62.3 percent.

* * *

I might have picked the game wrong on 1280, but at least I got the part right about the Jazz’s two rookies struggling in San Antonio. Eric Maynor and Wesley Matthews combined for five points Thursday, with Maynor finishing 0-for-3 and scoreless in 16 minutes.

Ronnie Brewer played all but 26 seconds in the fourth quarter after he sat in favor of Maynor on Wednesday and finished with 13 points. There were some anxious moments, though, as Brewer and Andrei Kirilenko both took some early shot clock jumpers down the stretch.

* * *

The Jazz’s p.r. staff wanted some credit for the end of the San Antonio skid. They opted to send coordinator Hannah Lee instead of director Jonathan Rinehart or manager Derek Garduno on this season’s first trip to the Alamo City.

Garduno noted that four members of the p.r. staff previously were winless in San Antonio before Lee broke the streak. These are the kind of unsung stats they dig up for us, like the fact the Jazz are 3-0 when starting Kyrylo Fesenko.

This is good news for Lee - - collecting NBA per diem always is - - given that the Jazz tend to stick with whatever delivers victories, be it wearing the same jerseys on the road during a winning streak or bringing p.r. people on trips.

--Ross Siler

Driving around San Antonio on Thursday, I spent a few minutes taking inventory of the Jazz’s “greatest hits” here during my time on the beat.

There was, of course, the 25-point elimination loss in Game 5 of the 2007 Western Conference finals, which set off Deron Williams enough to accuse unnamed teammates of having vacation plans and charging that the Jazz lacked “championship vision.”

There was, of course, the 29-point loss in Game 82 of the 2007-08 regular-season, when the Jazz could have claimed home-court advantage in the first round with a victory but watched San Antonio run layup lines and shoot 80 percent in the first quarter.

There was, of course, the 25-point loss here last November, when the Spurs played without Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker (sound familiar?) yet still hit 15 of 25 three-pointers and watched Roger Mason and George Hill combine for 52 points.

Suffice it to say, the Jazz had known little but horrific losses at AT&T Center in recent seasons, so there’s no shortchanging Thursday’s victory, even if it did come against a Spurs team missing Ginobili and Parker (and starting the law firm of Hill, Bogans and Ratliff).

If nothing else, the Jazz ensured no worse than a split of the season series with San Antonio, won on the second night of a back-to-back set and recorded their first winning streak of the season, taking some momentum into their six-game homestand.

* * *

You never know what you’re going to find walking into a locker room after a game. The Jazz players, for instance, were absolutely euphoric after last week’s win in Philadelphia.

There were plenty of good feelings Thursday, but the celebration was a little more muted. In fact, as reporters walked into the locker room, the Jazz players could be heard loudly bantering about some of the calls in the game.

Pressed on the notion that the Jazz would greet their first victory in San Antonio in a decade by complaining about calls amongst themselves, Williams had a little fun.

“I don’t know what you all are talking about,” Williams said. “We were talking about something totally different. We’re talking about NBA Live. Yeah. The bad calls I got in the game yesterday.”

It’s a good reminder that these guys are just like everybody else. Even when you have the best day at the office in weeks, there’s always something that gets under your skin.

Also worth noting that referee Joey Crawford worked the Jazz’s last victory in San Antonio in February 1999 as well as Thursday’s game. Crawford and Tim Duncan - - a fitting pair - - were the last remaining links on the floor at least.

* * *

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan had some curious comments before the game when it was suggested that Carlos Boozer was taking advantage of the furor that greeted him to start the season having died down.

“If we lose a game, it’s his fault,” Sloan said. “That’s the way a lot of people already programmed that in to start with. Everything that he did had to be magnified or was magnified, like he missed a couple free throws [Wednesday] night and the fans got on him a little bit.

“Everybody’s going to jump on him, waiting for him to make a mistake. That’s the way life is. You have to fight through that.”

--Ross Siler