The Utah Jazz | as seen by Basketball John

Where do I even start after a performance like tonight? When you talk about playing 48 minutes, this was it. The Jazz started off on fire and never let up. They led by 8 after one and essentially put the game out of reach by the second quarter as they finished the half with a 23-point lead.

And there was no run by the Nuggets that normally happens in the NBA. The Jazz didn’t cool off a bit in the third and in fact pushed the lead to 33 by the end of the quarter.

Mehmet Okur was brilliant. This has to be one of the most memorable games of this career. He simply could not miss. And apparently Denver’s scout team told the coaches that leaving Memo all alone at the three point line was the best way to defend him. Okur had 27 points and another 11 boards while shooting 9-11. That included his remarkable 6-7 from what’s becoming Memoland (three-point line). His only miss came in the fourth when the game was already decided. You really can’t say how well Memo’s been playing over the last 7 games. It’s actually been kind of scary. You know Memo is capable of these games, but when he turns in seven consecutive games like this, it’s really unbelievable. He also knocked Kenyon Martin out of the game with an inadvertent? elbow to his head. Memo was driving and swinging his arms and clocked Martin upside the head. I don’t wish injury on anyone, but it was a bit satisfying to see. I don’t think it was on purpose though.

Everyone got in on the act. Korver was 2-3, CJ was 2-3, and Deron was 1-2 on their respective three point shots. Deron’s came on about a 30 footer with the shot clock winding down.

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Boozer’s 23 & 11 was overshadowed by Memo’s big night. He abused the Nuggets again to the tune of 10-15 from the field and had some monster dunks.

And Williams continued his barrage of assists with 16. That’s exactly what he’s been averaging over the last seven games. And the best part about those assists are that he’s creating them for himself. He’s not just finding the open man, with his drives or moves, he forces other players’ to leave their man. This usually results in Memo or someone else being wide open.

Everyone got in on the action tonight. The only player that didn’t score was Hart. And he had his looks. He even missed two free throws. The man that overtook him on the depth chart, Ronnie Price, had a couple of AI-like drives and layups in the second quarter. And Bolerjack was in double-double heaven as four Jazz players, Williams, Okur, Boozer, and Millsap (16 & 10) accomplished the feat. And like I stated in the halftime update, the Jazz could have scored more. They had numerous missed layups and dunks.

I really haven’t seen a beat down of a team like I did tonight. Well, maybe a couple, but the Jazz were usually on the receiving end. I daresay that this is the best basketball I’ve seen this team play. And it could be the best I’ve seen since the Stockton/Malone era; even better than their streak earlier this year.

And for the Nuggets, they’re now two games out of the playoffs. The Jazz have a pretty comfortable lead of four games on Denver for the NW division title. And by the time we play Denver again in April, both teams’ fates could be decided. But more importantly, they move up a bit in the race for home-court advantage in the playoffs. They move within a game of New Orleans with NOLA’s loss last night. And the kept pace with the Hornet’s opponent, the Rockets, staying one game back. Are they ever going to lose? I don’t know how that will hold up in the playoffs. But we don’t want to see them in the first round again. Also, is George Karl gone if they don’t make the playoffs? This guy hopes so. He’s probably wishing he would get fired before then.

And there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing public enemy #1 & #2, Carmelo and Iverson, have their bubbles burst. After one of their biggest wins in SA, they come to Utah and get slapped back to reality. The game was pretty physical in the first half and we saw two Ts and a flagrant called. That wasn’t far from my prediction. And had we had a more competitive second half, we might have gotten there.

So now the Jazz have a couple days off before going on their last real road trip of the season. They play four games in five nights. And with the exception of Boston, they should be the favorites to win those. It would be nice to return the favor though after Boston came here and gave the Jazz their last home loss. That reminds me, even more overshadowed is the fact the Jazz have now won 18 in a row at home. It’s like Boozer’s double-doubles or Deron breaking ankles. It’s to the point now where that’s what you expect to see and you kind of take it for granted. Now we just need a bit of help from other teams to take out those above us in the standings.

Other notes:

• CJ had a great recovery block on AI during a fast break. He was called for the foul when he probably shouldn’t have been. But looking at the replay, it was probably goaltending anyway as it looked like it hit the glass first.
• There were 50 total fouls called. It’s only 9 of what was called in the PHX game. It didn’t seem like that many though. And as UtesFan89 mentioned in the game thread, most of those were in the fourth.
• Carmelo has a WB logo on his left shoulder. I can’t figure that out. Unless it’s this.
• Okay, Boozer’s “And 1!” calls are getting annoying. He’s calling them for everyone else too.
• Watch Tuesday as the Jazz take on Big Ben and the Bulls! At least that’s what Boler told on the previews. Must record those way in advance.
• Anyone else remember when Hot Rod was doing TV and after his interview with the player of the game, he’d give them a gift certificate to some restaurant? I always thought that was funny because one, like they need a paid meal. And two, they probably got their meals for free. Not to mention they have per-diems.
• This guy wasn’t going home happy either way.
  
• Boozer had just thrown his towel to the kid on the bottom. Then the bigger kid grabbed part of it and you get this. They cut away soon after.
  
• In the Fan Sports tourney style voting to find the best Jazz play (Stockton for three! will take it), the presented Memo’s late-game, turnaround, buzzer-beating three against the Mavs a couple years ago versus the game against the Bulls in 89 where they came from 7 down in the last minute. It gave us this shot from Stockton:

  That’s Jordan falling to the right and Pippen not being able to recover enough to block Stockton’s layup. This is where he caught it from half court and streaked down the court with about 4 seconds left. Incredible shot.

Other blogs:

• Biased Fan - Clever title
• My Utah Jazz
• Frank Layden
• Nugg Doctor - It was his win by 40 prediction that did them in.
• Pickaxe and Roll

Videos

I’m trying out Veoh.com instead of YouTube.  Much better quality.  And I don’t have problems uploading.

• Deron Williams interview
• Paul Millsap interview
• Kyle Korver interview
• CJ Miles interview
• Mehmet Okur interview