The Utah Jazz | as seen by Basketball John

How embarrassing of a loss would that have been?  The Jazz had the game put away at the end of the third going up 92-72.  But with 6:15 left, the Bobcats had cut the lead to only three, 101-98.  Yikes.  But as quickly as the lead evaporated the Jazz were able to build it back up again.  AK missed the free throw on a Boozer-announced and-1.  A quick kick-out to Korver led to a three.  KK went on to hit a couple more, Deron added one, and a couple of steals led to dunks on the other end.  And just like that, the Jazz had the win.  (Do you you think Jazz fans like Korver?)

You didn’t ever get that feeling that they were going to lose the game.  The Bobcats couldn’t stop the Jazz except for the 14-0 run that got them back in it.

And the same thing that got them the original 21-point lead won it for them, defense.  AK had a couple steals, Brewer had one, and KK drew on offensive foul.  The Jazz held the Bobs to only 2 field goals over the final 5:33 and a couple of free throws.

Memo carried the Jazz in the first half with 17 points.  He finished the game with just 20 after that first half.  He also added 10 boards for the teams’s third DD.  It was good to see him back all the way from the flu or whatever he had.

In the second half, it was Boozer’s turn.  He had a great block earlier in the game to go along with his 28 points and 13 rebounds.  His last field goal of the game came on a dunk that I didn’t think he was going to get to the rim for.  But he kept rising and rising until he flushed it home with the left hand.

Deron had an off shooting night but still finished with 14 & 15.  AK and Brewer both had good nights and had 16 apiece.  And Harpring and KK both ended in double digit points with 18 & 10 respectively.

Jason Richardson, Earl Boykins, and Gerald Wallace were the biggest reasons for the Bobcats’ comeback.  Richardson and Wallace had 26 & 21 points.  And Boykins, he of the 32% FG percentage, had 14.  I’ve coveted Wallace for a long time as I imagine most teams do.  But he’s got a long contract for about $10M per.

So now it’s a couple nights off before LAC comes back to town.  We didn’t get any help tonight as DAL, SA, and NO all won.

Houston has an easy one tomorrow against Minny before going to SA and SAC.

SA has a couple of cupcakes this week against LAC and Minny.

PHX heads east for three before a home and home against Denver.

NO has a tough stretch coming up; @CLE, @BOS, @TOR, and @ORL.

LA has an easy schedule like the Jazz with CHA, MEM, WAS, and POR all coming to the Staples center.

So we’re not likely to gain ground on LA, but we could get one or two against those teams above us.

Other notes:

• Click on the bobcat if you don’t know what lolcats are.
• Another quiet T from Sloan.  Are they putting sedatives in his pre-game coffee?
• Collins squared
• Deron had his 45th Points/Assists DD.
• Why couldn’t Jordan have been the GM of the Bulls while he was playing with Chicago?  The tenth anniversary of the push off is coming up this year.
• A lot of missed calls in this one.  Here’s Harp with the ball in his hands with the shot clock at 0 and it still counted,
  
• Korver had a little stare down of his defender after nailing a three,
  

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