Try as they may, the refs couldn’t give this game to the Spurs.  No matter how much Duncan walked and got away with it, nor how many times Deron got body-checked without a call, nor phantom foul calls called on the Jazz, Utah withheld the Spurs’ and the refs’ charge and walked away with a 97-91 win.

Boozer rebounded from his bad shooting night against the Rockets, going 10-18 from the field for 23 points.  He was matched in the points column by the All-star looking Kirilenko.  His 23 came on 9-10 shooting to go along with 5 rebounds and 4 amazing steals.  Perhaps the best of the night came on his pick of Manu by coming from behind and robbing Ginobili blind.  The Jazz hand their hands in the Spurs’ pockets all night long.  They finished with what has to be a season high of 15 steals.  And when the Spurs only had 19 turnovers all game, it was nice to see that the Jazz caused most of them.

And what more can be said about AK right now?  He’s the most consistent player on the Jazz on both the offensive and defensive end.  Based on his down year last year, doesn’t he have to be considered for the comeback player of the year award?  It’s amazing how he has turned it around.  And if the Jazz continue to win and finish high in the west, maybe, just maybe, Sloan picks up his COY.  The way he’s opened up the offense this year and has still been able to incorporate AK more speaks a lot for how he’s been able to win consistently for so long.  He’ll probably get a lot of competition from Byron Scott of the Hornets though.

And as Ken said in the Houston thread, when the hell did Boozer start playing defense?  Timmy got his, but not before 7 turnovers.  He was hounded all night long and I thought Boozer looked like he had taken criticism of his D to heart.  And the entire team for that matter have been playing exceptional D.  I’ll refer back to Ken again, the rotations tonight by the Jazz shut down a lot of easy looks and potential threes.  They held the Spurs to 42% shooting and only 4-16 from the arc.  Duncan and Manu scored their typical points against the Jazz, but we didn’t see a big game from a third player.  That’s what has killed us in the past.  Have the Jazz finally found the

The Jazz now move into a half-game lead in the northwest and into the fourth spot in the west.  They’re now 11-2 in their last 13 and Portland and Denver have both gone just 5-5.  See, there was a little equalization once Denver and Portland started getting a few more road games in and the Jazz played a few more at home.

The Jazz now have three very winnable games against the Knicks, at Washington, and at Memphis.  I have to say that I almost don’t care about these games.  The one that I have circled is the 2/4 game against the Hornets.

Should be a great couple of weeks.

Other blogs:

• Spurs Report
• Pounding the Rock
• Biased Fan

Other notes:

• Would it kill local reporters to look up stuff before giving their reports?  Rick Aaron from FOX stated that with this win, the Jazz moved into 8th in the west.
• I’m not a fan of someone losing their job due to injury, but it’s clear that Ronnie Price has played better than Hart.  He should get the backup minutes even when Jason comes back.  Price had a Deron-like crossover tonight that even brought #8 out of his seat.