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Lucky 14 - Recap - Portland Trailblazers @ Utah Jazz - 31 December 2007
Finally a game that you can write home about. The Kyle Korver-infused Jazz beat the Trailblazers, 113-101, putting a winning end to a terrible month and ending Portland’s winning streak.
The Jazz bucked their trends that had been the cause of their December slump. With Korver coming off the bench in the second, he left no doubt that he was a shooter, letting it fly on his first touch. And even though that was a miss, a rebound a kickout back to Korver led to his first three as a Jazz man. His energy seemed to give the Jazz what they needed as Utah outscored Portland 29-21 in the quarter.
And with Korver getting some crunch-time minutes, the Jazz were able to pull away in the third and put it away in the fourth. That’s something that they haven’t been doing lately to say the least.
It was a great well-rounded game with no one over 20 points, but six players in double digits. Millsap had starter’s minutes and scored 14. Williams and Boozer had their usual 18 & 19. And AK had another near triple-double with 14 points, 7 assists, and 8 boards.
It appears as if CJ and Brewer are going to be the ones losing out on minutes if tonight’s any indication. CJ had 12 and Ronnie had 18. But KK, who wasn’t suppose to play many minutes had 18 himself and looked really comfortable out there. Okur was on the bench for most of the fourth as well, ending with only 21 minutes. I think Sloan will go with whoever has the hot hand and who’s playing well. And because Portland didn’t really have a center playing in the fourth, Jerry could keep him on the bench.
And all of this came in spite of Aldridge’s career night. He finished with 36 points on 12-17 shooting and 12-14 from the line. He couldn’t miss all night. But he did miss a couple down the stretch and for that the Jazz were able to capitalize. Roy had a solid night but was limited with foul trouble and we didn’t have Webster go off on us.
But we get to do it all again come Saturday when the Jazz head up to Portland. And of course before then is the return of Giri to the ESA. I can’t imagine him being too much of a factor because he probably won’t be used too much. Although he will be one of the only shooter Philly has. And as of now, he’s played well in their game vs. Seattle.
So we’ll see how long the KK euphoria lasts. But if he keeps playing like he did, Fess just may lose his spot as fan favorite.
The breaks and rolls finally started going Utah’s way. When it seemed like every shot rimmed out in the first quarter, they started falling in the second half. So here’s to a good start to 2008 and getting back on track. I’ll wait a few more games before calling this win a sign of things to come.
Other notes:
- In a pre-game interview, getting calls from players in the league wishing him luck and telling him how good of a fit this was for him. Amongst those he mentioned were Webber and Wade. I didn’t realize KK was in his five.
- Huge free-throw discrepancy again. 43-27 for Portland. And it wasn’t really that close because Portland fouled in the final minute.
- Booner quote of the night, “I’m worried about the fans getting on the refs.”
- Was that Almond behind the bench? I don’t recall seeing him getting called up. Him and Fess were there. Maybe they were just there to watch.
- Jim Clark really seemed to have it in for the Jazz. Aldridge got a huge amount of calls from him. And how does he get away with swiping away the defender’s arm every time?
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RELATED POSTS:
Perhaps the most important statistic in the 31 December 2007 game was the number of assists by high post players: Kirilenko, 7; Boozer, 1. Compared to the beginning of the season, when the Jazz were winning, there were not as many assists out of the high post during the losing streak. When Kirilenko is on his game, when his passes from the high post find their targets, the defense cannot concentrate on Deron Williams to the exclusion of virtually everyone else. That’s vitally important in the structured half-court offense that the Jazz employ, for it opens up backdoor cuts for both guards, giving the Jazz plenty of high percentage shots close to the basket.
Fans old enough to remember the Trailblazers with Bill Walton, the Celtics with Larry Bird, and the Bulls with Scottie Pippen, know that passing out of the high post, whether by the center or the small forward, was the key to the success of those teams’ structured half court offense. Walton, who had extraordinary court vision, took the Trailblazers to the championship by feeding Bob Gross, Lionel Hollings, and the other backdoor cutters.
[…] 31st. The night started out with a great win over Portland. And as we can see, the Jazz wives were getting ready to celebrate not only the win, but the […]