What a wild week! You’d think that this Jazz blogger would have no trouble posting blog after blog about the roller coaster ride that is the Utah Jazz this season. The problem was, I was sick at the start of the week, and got behind, and the blog loomed larger and larger as I wanted to encompass all of the games that occured. But, I’m biting the bullet and recapping all of the amazing action, especially with a pivotal Jazz-T’wolves game lurking tonight. With no further ado, the week in review:
January 30, San Antonio Spurs 79, Jazz 70
This game was pretty sloppy, with neither team getting above 80 points. The Jazz shot an anemic 32% from the field, and while they hung around until the fourth quarter, they were never really in this one. The Spurs were definitely the better team on this night.
February 1, Jazz 103, Denver Nuggets 90
Redemption night! After the Jazz went to the Mile High City and got a 30-point whupping the week before, Utah was looking to turn the tables. But after Denver shot almost 60% from the field in the first half, things didn’t look good. Fortunately, the Jazz outscored the Nuggets 23-16 in the third quarter, and Carmelo shot a more typical 8 for 22 from the field. This was Denver’s fourth loss in a row, and as of right now, they’re only a game ahead of the Jazz. Time will tell if Marcus Camby’s return can right this ship.
February 3, Jazz 89, Sacramento Kings 79
The return of Ron! We all got a look at the new Sacto Kings with Ron Artest in their lineup. I was at work this night, following along on the computer, and it was not pretty. Down 11 going into the fourth, the Jazz looked as though they would need a miracle to come back. Cue up a fourth quarter in which the Kings missed EVERY shot that they took from the field. All of them. 0 for 20. Unbelievable. I ended up turning on the game on the radio, and listened in. It was almost like a car wreck that you couldn’t turn away from. The Jazz ended up outscoring the Kings by 22 in the quarter and came away with an improbable win.
The best part? I went home to watch the rebroadcast on KJZZ, and when the fourth quarter started, every time a Kings player took a shot, I said “Missed it” as soon as it left his hand. This tickled me for a good half of the quarter. I guess that’s what happens when you start to watch a game at midnight.
February 5, Sacramento Kings 96, Jazz 78
I didn’t see more than 10 minutes of this game. Between other Sunday commitments, and the Super Bowl pregame, it wasn’t even a choice. Besides, I knew that they wouldn’t win this one. Those home-and-home sets are almost impossible to sweep. From what I saw/read, this one was never in doubt.
February 6, Jazz 109, Chicago 107 (OT)
The most amazing one of the bunch. As I listened on the radio, the Jazz battled back to lead by 6 with 1:30 to go, and somehow let Ben Gordon, the guy who hit 9 three-pointers in their previous game, get a wide open look at a triple to tie it up with 7 seconds left. Big Mo was definitely sitting on the Bulls bench now, and the Bulls took control in OT, leading by as much as 7 points. It was one of those games that felt like a blown opportunity, and I was waiting for the impending loss.
But the Jazz showed a great deal of heart. They hit back-to-back threes to cut the lead, and then the final series of events, culminating in Memo’s three, actually brought me out of my seat at work. I watched it at home over and over again, and it was truly amazing:
- Tyson Chandler, a pitiful FT shooter, missed his second shot, and AK grabbed the board, seeming to pull it off of the rim in the process. I only saw the oppposite end, under the basket view that the KJZZ primates love to use, but it looked pretty iffy.
- Harpring really seemed to force his shot. I know that he had 28 points, and had played really well, but they ran that pick down play where he gets the ball at the free throw T and shoots, but that was covered, so he drove baseline and faded away, which is something he usually doesn’t do. Anyway, it was a forced shot that missed badly.
- Luol Deng fought AK for the rebound, grabbed it, and promptly proceeded to crap his pants. What was he thinking? He had Devon Brown and Kirilenko in between him and the outlet guy he was looking for. Deng is shooting 78% from the free throw line on the season, so it’s not like he was trying to get rid of it for that reason. Hold the ball, let the Jazz foul him, and it’s probably the ball game.
- Devon Brown deflected the pass, right into AK’s hands, who swung it back out to Palacio. Milt took a step, pump faked, and realizing that he was blanketed by Gordon, threw it over to Memo.
- Memo never hesitated, faked, nothing, just let it fly. I loved Bolerjack’s call:
“Four seconds left…Memo…money…GOOD!!!!!” as the crowd goes understandably berzerk in the background. Definitely Boler’s highlight so far this year (he has been wildly disappointing this year, a discussion for another time). I even got “the special feelings” just now, when I was typing this.
- There was one more little drama; 0.7 seconds were left on the clock, and after a timeout, Chicago inbounded to Andrea Noccioni straightaway. I guess he decided that he had enough time to catch the ball, let Kirilenko fly by, and THEN shoot. Of course he drained it, so the refs went over to check, but it was clearly no good. The Bulls were gone by the time the refs waved it off, and the celebration began. An amazing game.
Well, that brings us up to tonight. All kinds of subplots here. The T’wolves are 1 1/2 games back, so a Jazz win tonight would put them in the rearview mirror a little more, and put pressure on Denver as well. Denver has Dallas and their 13-game win streak coming to town, and I’m predicting a Denver win, so the Jazz need to win to hold their ground.
Plus, Mr. Carlos Boozer is reported to be getting some PT tonight. How long will he play? Will he be rusty? Will his hamstring actually detatch from his body? Should be interesting…