It’s Deron.  Mr. Williams if you’re nasty.

There are a lot of great players in the NBA.  A lot of players can put the ball in the basket and got make flashy passes.  But the playoffs seem to separate the elite players from the great.  They separate themselves by doing seemingly whatever it takes to win.  And they’re evaluating several scenarios in a split second and most of the time choose the right one.  And it’s in the playoffs where the stars and faces of the NBA are born.

Despite last year’s deep run in the playoffs,  Deron Williams took a back seat to Chris Paul this year.  That’s another thing about thing about the playoffs.  No one cares what you did last year.  It’s all about who’s making their name this year.

DWill is on his way again to putting his name back in the national light as he lit up the depleted Rockets to help the Jazz win the series from Houston.  Deron made a halftime adjustment that won the game for the Jazz.  In the first half he primarily a distributor setting up other Jazz men.  But after Alston went out with a severe sprain, Williams smelt blood and took over the game.

After the Jazz squandered a 19-point first half lead, Deron nailed a three pointer to end the second quarter to push the lead back to four.  And it was more of the same in the second half.  With Alston out, neither Bobby Jackson nor Aaron Brooks could stop #8.  Deron had four three point shots in the third quarter that led Utah’s 19-5 run that put the game away.  His now patented step-back three point shot was indefensible.  He finished with 25 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds to pace the Jazz offense which finally got back on track.

The offense had 7 players with double digits again.  Boozer was solid to start with and gave us 15.  Okur had a great game with 19 & 13.  Brewer chipped in 13 while Kirilenko scored 11.  And Korver and Harp came off the bench to add 10 apiece.  After going 2-29?  in the last two game from the arc, the Jazz nailed 10-22 this time around.  And each of them seemed to be huge.  I guess you could ask are there any threes that aren’t huge?  Yes.  McGrady had a couple of pad-statting threes at the end of the game that didn’t mean a thing.

In fact, most of his 40 points were meaningless.  That’s because he didn’t have anyone that could score outside of Scola.  And when Alston went down, that did them in.  I don’t think even having Alston play the second half would have made a difference.  The score would have been closer than 113-91, but we probably still would have had a Jazz victory.

So while McGrady won’t get blamed for not making it out of the first round again, it still hangs over his head.  By scoring 40 it will look like it wasn’t his fault.  And to a point it’s not.  But you would never hear any other superstar players not accept blame for a series defeat even if his team wasn’t at a 100%.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite with most players.  They state that they wish they would have done more.  And they certainly don’t throw their team mates and coach under the bus.  I sure hope we don’t play them again in the first round next year because I’m tired of hearing about this.

And the one more noticeable thing about this game was the stellar D from the Jazz.  Houston shot just 39% and 26% from the three-point line.  The only reason this game wasn’t even more embarrassing for the Rockets was their 36 trips to the line.  It seems to be that the Jazz get more confidence from great D than they do hitting a couple of threes.  When they built the 19-point lead in the first half, they were getting every loose ball, the majority of the boards, and steals that would lead to easy points.  When you know you can shut down a team, you take a little pressure off of yourselves on the offensive end.  When you see good D, you usually see the offense flowing as designed.

So now we can put the Rocket’s squarely in the rear and look forward to LA.  They’re going to be tougher than the Rockets but I like the Jazz as the underdogs.  And I’m glad they don’t have time off between series.  The Jazz had a five-day layoff after beating the Warriors last year.  They then proceeded to get walloped by the Spurs.  Everyone on the team is young and they should be used to playing 90+ games.  They take a lot of mo and confidence into the series.  There will be subplots galore.  From Fisher to Kobe and more, this will be a great series.

And what’s the percentage of playing the team in the playoffs that one of your former players went to?  Last year we play GS in the second round the year after Fisher was traded from GS to Utah.  And now we’re playing LA after Fisher was allowed to walk away from his contract.  I say we remember that in the off season when thinking about who to trade a player to.  That means if we ship someone off to Detroit, we’ll meet up with them in the finals.

Lots to come on the upcoming series.

In the words of the great Jazz fans at the ESA last night, “Beat LA!  Beat LA!”

Other notes,

• Scola offensive forearms - 22435.  Number of fouls called, 5.  But they were all on Boozer.
• We’re just barely getting out of the first round?  Doesn’t it feel like we’ve played at least 3 already?  The NBA, where playoff scheduling happens.
• The Jazz are now 2-0 at home without the white shirts for the fans.  Let’s keep it that way.
• T-Mac stated that Deron fed off the crowd.  Weird, I thought he fed off the thin air.
• Some of the best signs of the year.
• YouTube videos didn’t work and I’m too late to embed these all.  Here are the Veoh videos.

If Deron ever decides to leave Utah, maybe we can blame it on the local reporters asking dumb questions.  No names are mentioned, but yesterday after being asked an amazingly confusing question by a reporter (neither of the two pictured here), Deron gives a short answer.  After the reporter walks away, Deron’s inner monologue takes over and wants to get out.  He let a comment about the reporter slip and tries to recover.  Listen to the link here,

http://1280thezone.com/images/uploads/audio/DWill5-1-08.mp3

It sounds like Ross Siler (not sure) from the Trib steps in to mediate between the two and to keep things going.  Not sure what’s happened in the past, but if this reporter asks Deron these types of questions all the time, I could see why his frustration might boil over.

Due to the recent NFL draft, an ten-year-old story has come to light again with new details.  Demetrius Bell was drafted by the Buffalo Bills last weekend in the NFL draft.  Demetrius is the son of former Jazz great Karl Malone.

The two biggest disturbing details are that one, the mother of Bell was only 13 when she was impregnated by Karl.  And two, apparently Malone doesn’t want anything to do with his son.  Bell didn’t even learn Karl was his father until he was 18.  How’s that for a revelation when you’re 18?  I’m sure Malone knew about him for most of this time yet when the two met, Karl told his son, “It was too late for him to be his father and that Bell would earn his money on his own.”  I’m sure that’s not the extent of the entire conversation.  And I don’t think the kid was looking for a handout.  But’s that’s amazingly obtuse of Malone.

As much as you might be inclined to defend Karl on this, there’s no excuse.  He’s accepted his daughter Cheryl Ford and his other son into his family.  But Bell is just out of luck?  There are many more details and questions that need to be asked but it looks like Karl’s not talking.  Maybe we’ll hear more as Bell speaks out.  He seems to have a good head on his shoulders,

”Nothing against him, but I feel good at this time. If he would’ve been there, yeah, it would’ve been good. But if not, it’s even better,” said Bell, ”Everything’s a plus right now.”

It’s incredibly hard to have success coming from a one-parent household.  And it’s great that he was able to use sports to improve himself.  Bell’s also become close with his half-sister Ford.

It’s never too late to be a father.  That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.  He’s not after your money Karl.  And unless Karl mans up and becomes his father, I can’t be a fan of his any more.  We really need to hear from Malone on this.

If there’s any good that comes of this, it will be that Bell won’t make the same mistakes his “father” did.

PIC: Karl Malone eating at the Little America yesterday.  According to my Aunt, he licked the plate clean.  Maybe he is just cheap.

You know, if this was any other team that was heading back home with a 3-2 lead and a good chance to wrap things up, their fans would be stating that they just wanted to win it at home.  But most fans this morning and last night seem to think that the series is over and that we should start a fire sale on Boozer, Memo, and AK.

But there’s probably at least a little reason to panic.  The Jazz are coming off their worst game of the year.  Most thought that this should have been a sweep after they won the first two on the road.  And they were a blocked lay-up shy of doing that.  But I don’t think that anyone expected them to sweep before this series began.  Most had the Jazz in 6, which is where we stand now.  So no need to freak out.  But then if the Jazz somehow drop game 6, then by all means, EVERYBODY PANIC!

That said, Tom Landry stated, “Act like you’ve been there before.”  Does this team look like they’ve been in the playoffs already? From their hesitant play to their post-game interviews.  It looks like they’re still trying to adjust.  Boozer seems to know he’s talking to national media and he’s trying to make an impression.  How many times do you adjust your tie in an interview?  Maybe it’s just a nervous tic, but you don’t see other big name guys fidgeting that much.  Deron’s as calm as can be.  They were in the WCF just last year!

As I stated in my half-time notes, the Jazz have had open looks all series and just can’t knock them down.  Missed jump shots, botched lay-ups, etc.  Boozer did respond to my call to step it up in the second half, but no one else could get things going.  Why is he so intimidated by Mutombo?  He can handle Yao, but not the finger wave?  He had a couple of nice moves by Mount M, but where have those been all series?  It doesn’t matter if he’s not hitting the 15-17 footers, he should be able to post up on him all night.

The Jazz teased us with a little run to start the third that looked like they had finally figured something out.  The Rockets then promptly when on a 7-0 run to push the lead back to 17 and that did it.

The Jazz also teased fans in the beginning by hitting their first 2 three pointers of the game after going 0-65535.  But then they proceeded to miss their next 7.  I’ve never seen so many shots go in the hoop and rattle out than in this series.  And that goes for all shots and both teams.  Did they over-inflate the ball?

So now it’s back to the ESA for a deciding game 6 (for both teams).  It’s simple.  If the Jazz out-rebound and get more assists than the Rockets, they win.  Man, that sounded like John Madden.  I completely overlooked Alston’s return.  He’s supposed to be injured though, right?  He’s absolutely been the Rockets’ biggest force since his return.   

And although defense wins championships, it’s a little hard to win when you can’t put the ball in the hole.  Nobody expects them to put up their regular season average of 106, but give us something fellas.  Deron can’t go 1-on-1 all night.

Other blogs,

• My Utah Jazz
• Biased
• The Dream Shake 
• Ross Siler

  T-Mac is rubbing off on me.  Just when I should be writing 2-3 times a day and stepping it up in the playoffs, I disappear.  Let’s just say real life was playing me too physical.    I don’t have any tapes I can send in to the league unfortunately.

So let’s get going again with a few playoff notes as the Jazz try to wrap things up tonight in Houston.  It’s hard to bring something new to the discussion when you haven’t written for a bit, but here it goes.

• First of all, thanks to everyone that wrote me on the blogging awards.  I wasn’t able to pull off the upset, but it was good to see My Utah Jazz get second in the NW division.
• And thanks to those that signed the Save [Y]our Sonics petition.  We were able to get over 200 sigs in just a day.  So for the time given and the niche that I have, I think that was pretty good.  I forward it to LHM’s assistant but never got a response.  Unfortunately he voted for the move.  But it looks like the Sonics owners are digging themselves pretty deep with the recent emails that have come out.  So there’s still a little hope.
• Is anyone surprised about T-Mac’s crying about physical play?  He was crying about it last year too.  And Adelman’s joined in this year.  I guess it doesn’t matter which coach they have.  He’s got to put the blame on something (someone) other than himself.  Is his complaining coming from the fact that he can’t hit a free throw?
• Is this series uglier than last year’s?  The Jazz broke 100 once last year and that was the game 7 win.  It’s not just the low scoring.  No one can make free throws.  There seems to be a ton more turnovers.  They’re just ugly, ugly games to watch.  They hearken back to the Knicks/Heat series back in the ’90s when the final scores were 58-54.
• Is it McCryBaby?  T-Mock?  He really doesn’t know how to pronounce Deron’s name?  I have to admit, it was hard for me to pronounce it “darrin” at first.  Even the Trib’s search has problems with Deron’s name.  But the guy’s been in the league three years.  You played them last year in the playoffs!  And has his coach never said in practice, “Watch out for Deron Williams?”  Maybe that’s the problem.  He’s not listening in practice.  He’s had to have spoken his name some other time.  Anyone find a clip?  A nice anagram for Tracy McGrady is “drag my cry act” as in, “I’m going to drag my cry act to every news conference.”

  Thanks Tracy for pissing off Deron Williams.  He said it didn’t bother him.  Right.  Just like being snubbed for the All-Star team didn’t bother him.  Here’s hoping for 30 & 17 tonight.

• One of Malone’s sons was just drafted into the NFL.  I don’t doubt the kid’s story about being shunned by Malone, but I would like to hear a comment from Karl on this.
• The Jazz finally get a “There’s only one” NBA split-screen video.  We need one now with David Stern and Clay Bennett.
• Always a bridesmaid.  He should have won in 97 and 98.  And if they’re going based on turnaround this year, then he should have won in 04 when the Jazz finished 42-40 when they were expected to compete for the worst record of all time.  Seriously, have you seen their roster?  Tell me how that team wins that many games.  Like most others have stated, it appears that you have to have had a crappy team and then turn them around.  That’s why the COY award will be renamed the Jerry Sloan COY award and he will never have had actually won it.

That’s why I shouldn’t, and don’t usually, predict point spreads or margins of victory.  I stated in my preview that either the Jazz were going to lose or we were going to blow them out.  I then stated at the half that we would win by 15.  I was a quarter right.  We won, but that was as good as my predictions go.

It was bound to be a closer game (I now have put on my hindsight glasses).  Bobby Jackson wasn’t going to be as bad as he was in game 1.  We were still playing a team that had won 22 in a row (10 without Yao).  And were still going up against one of the best defensive teams in the league.

I was right about another thing.  The Jazz do get better as the game goes on.  They made incredibly clutch shots (on the road mind you) down the stretch.  None bigger than the shot of the year from KK.  His turnaround jumper, with about 4 seconds left on the shot clock, went off the side of the backboard.  AK got the board and passed back out to KK who caught it and shot it with 1 hand with about .5 on the shot clock.  The swish with about :20 left finished off the Rockets and gave the Jazz a 2-0 series lead.

The defensive of the Jazz was hands down the biggest reason for the W.  Bobby Jackson did score 18, but it took 7-17 to do it.  The Jazz held the Rockets to another 41% shooting game.  Houston did themselves in again making only 16 of 26 free throws and only 4-19 from the arc.

And the best defense of the game came from AK in the second half.  He was assigned to guard McGrady for most of the 3rd and 4th quarters.  It paid off as T-Mac had only 1 point in the fourth quarter and was just 9-22 overall from the field.  He filled up the stat sheet with 9 assists and 13 rebounds.  But he disappeared when the Rockets needed him the most.  I won’t go over his shortcomings, I’ll let The Dream Shake express how Rockets fans feel (PG-13).

Okur was back last night getting 16 & 16.  It really didn’t seem like he was getting that many rebounds.  A very quiet 16.  Boozer, in foul trouble again, scored only two points in the first.  He came back in the second to score 11 and had some huge baskets to keep Houston at bay.  He had some great post moves and I don’t know why he hasn’t eaten Mutumbo up yet.  If he can light up Yao, Mutumbo should be a walk.

One of the most underrated players in this series has been Ronnie Price.  He filled in for Deron by hitting 2 threes in his eight minutes of relief.  One of those threes came at the end of the third when the Rockets had just gone up by one.  It sent the Jazz into the fourth on a positive note and gave them the lead.  He also had another steal with a great dunk on the other end by outracing Brooks for the flush.

Deron Williams had big shot after big shot.  And that was despite all the abuse he was taking without getting a call.  The biggest no call of course came when he was running out to challenge a three and Aaron Brooks absolutely leveled him with his shoulder.  It was a great screen except that Brooks moved at the last second to instigate contact with Deron.  That hit sent Deron onto his side and he had to go to the locker room for a bit.  It seems like Deron is the little Shaq of the league.  Shaq wouldn’t get a lot of calls when he would get hammered because he was bigger and stronger than everyone else.  Deron finished with 22 points and just 5 assists.  The Jazz as a team only had 19 assists total.  There was great D on Houston’s part as the Jazz weren’t really able to get into their offense.  They didn’t get many lay-ups or cuts to the basket.

And I’ll echo the sentiment by RRR.  The refs are plain awful.  I really can’t remember a year when the they’ve been this bad.  They missed calls, they made wrong calls, and this particular set seemed to think that the game was about them and that they’re in control.  Do you want to know how you’ve got bad refs?  When their antics resemble Enrico Pollazzo and not officials.  They’re out of position on calls and in Deron’s leveling, the ref was more worried about whether the shooter’s feet were behind the three-point line than what was going on in front of him.  And of course Rockets fans have a legitimate gripe when AK did some great acting to draw an offensive foul from Scola when Bobby Jackson had just made a game-tying three.  But there were other missed calls.  Scola and McGrady got to extend their arms all night to make room.  Price was called for a block when Jackson was spinning out of control.  Deron was called for a travel after receiving the ball in the air and coming down.  And Boozer was whacked on the head on one of his lay-ups.  Like RRR stated, can we can find competent refs amongst the population?  And whatever happened to Stern’s promise of more transparency for the refs?  There needs to be some accountability for these things.

The Jazz withstood the Rockets’ best (and the refs’ best) and now head home to the SLC to wrap things up.  Stranger things have happened but the Jazz should take care of business at home and move on.  The Lakers could as easily sweep the Nuggets so the Jazz probably won’t have time to rest.  And that’s probably a good thing.  They don’t seem to play well coming out of a long break.  So fans, relax a bit and get ready to rock the ESA on Thursday.

Other notes,

• Was anyone else waiting for Harp to miss the lay-up on his break-away?  Instead he shows that his knees have a little more mileage in them by throwing it down.
• McGrady quote, “Offense is really not an issue.”  Really?  41% from the field and 62% from the FT line isn’t an issue?  4-19 from three?
• Videos coming soon

Other blogs,

• Biased Fan
• FLA & Again
• My Utah Jazz
• Deadspin
• Ross Siler
• True Hoop
• Daily Dime

This time last year the Jazz dropped game 2 to Houston on the road and were heading back to the SLC to try to salvage the series.  This year things are a bit different.  The Jazz already have stolen home court and can effectively end Houston’s season tonight with a win.  I always hate saying that type of thing because it always comes back to haunt you should it not turn out.

As I said in game 1’s recap, I think Houston is done.  I think McGrady is already looking to next season when Yao and Alston are back.  He’s tired of the “can’t get out of the first round” player and wants to be able to say it wasn’t his fault.  And to a point it’s not really.  Nobody expected them to win this series with the injuries they’ve had.  But he still owes his fans a competitive series.

Look for the Jazz to do the same defensive scheme tonight.  As Ken, Scrum, and FLA stated, they’re going to keep playing T-Mac straight up and send help.  Someone else is going to have to beat the Jazz.  We’re going to have to see Scola or Bobby Jackson have a career night.  Battier was great in the first game, but unless McGrady has 50+, just having two scorers won’t be enough.

Have you ever seen Memo and AK both have good games on the same night?  I can’t remember the last time both of them had close to 20 in the same game.  They must share one pair of lucky socks.  Boozer and Williams will get their’s tonight.  We’ll need a good game from one of the sock mates and KK and Millsap to do their thing.

Either the Jazz blow them out in this one or the Rockets pick up a win.

Other blogs,

• My Utah Jazz
• The Dream Shake (gets straight to the point)
• David Thorpe

The Rockets are done.  This isn’t just an arrogant prediction after the Jazz took game from Houston, 93-82.  It’s based on Tracy McGrady’s actions at the end of the game.  With 1:05 left in the game and the Rockets down 10, McGrady checked himself out of the game, and possible his team out of the playoffs, by fouling Kirilenko.  Immediately after he fouled AK, he walked straight to the bench and sat down, covering himself with a towel.  The Rockets were in a fouling situation as they were trying to get make a last-ditch attempt to get back into the game.  But I think Tracy had given up long before that.  And I don’t buy that the game was out of reach.  Not when the Rockets have pulled off comebacks such as this.  He has no trust in any of his teammates and seems willing to throw them under the bus,

They’ve kind of taken away our first option [I guess he’s talking about himself here] and we’re a little stagnated on the offensive end and don’t know what else to do.  We’re all out of sync and we don’t have too many guys out there who can create their own shot.

This is a far cry from the McGrady interview last year when he stated “I tried” after losing game seven to the Jazz.  So Rocket fans, you can still hate the Jazz and Jazz fans.  But you should be furious with the man that wears #1 for your team.  Because if Boozer, Deron Williams, or anyone on the Jazz quit like McGrady has, I would be pissed.

Enough bandwidth wasted writing about McGrady.  Maybe that should have been a separate post.

The Jazz went into Houston and did exactly what they needed to do.  Nobody has given Houston a chance to win this series, but you really expected a lot more out of them.  But a win on the road for the Jazz, and especially one that delivers a pretty crushing blow to Houston’s series chances, is huge.

After Houston came back to tie the game at 57, the Jazz put on the defensive screws and held them to just 3 points over the last five minutes of the third quarter.  The Jazz pushed their lead to 8 with the help of two Kyle Korver threes and buckets by Williams and AK.  The Rockets never challenged Utah in the fourth.

Kirilenko led the way with 21 points.  He really kept the Jazz in the game early while the Jazz struggled at times to get things going.  Boozer added 20 points and won the rebound battle with Okur tonight grabbing 16 to Memo’s 8.  Memo was off tonight going just 2-8 for 4 points.  I still think that  Memo is the biggest factor for the Jazz going deep in the playoffs.  And the fact that he can have a bad night and the Jazz still win comfortably speaks volumes about the win.  And Deron turned in another “standard” performance with 20 & 10.  Price came in and played well despite only four minutes in relief of Deron.  And Korver had his 11 on 4-7 from the field.

I really thought that this series would go 6 or 7 games.  But from the body language from the Rockets players and McGrady giving up, this could be over in four.  Anything can still happen and there’s still a lot of ball left, but I don’t see this going on much longer.

Other notes,

• Having listened to most of the game on radio, I realized how much I missed Hot Rod’s calls of “belt-high dribble” and “the cow hide globe hits home.”  I really don’t think he has a face for HD though.
• Until Deron attempted two free throws late in the third, the Jazz had only taken three free throws the entire game.  The Rockets had 21 straight attempts of their own at one point.
• When it’s NBA playoffs, the local stations aren’t getting interviews with Boozer, Williams, or whoever the hero of the night was.  ESPN or TNT or the press at large get them.  That’s gotta suck.  That’s like your typical cop movie where the FBI comes in and claims jurisdiction and takes over your case.
• Here’s my HoopsVibe article with predictions for the playoffs.
• Boozer dressed the part tonight,
  
• Videos coming soon

Other blogs,

• FLA
• My Utah Jazz
• Biased
• The Dream Shake & again here.

As if last night’s loss wasn’t bad enough.  This is not a valid form of defense.  I would give him the benefit of the doubt on the first one as just trying to get out of the way and not foul.  But this is ridiculous.

The second image is not photoshopped.  I hope the other Jazz players take him to task for this.  Even if he’s trying to get out of the way, curling up in the fetal position doesn’t look very good.

UPDATE:  I remember this play.  He was trying to avoid the old “head-fake and leap into the guy” play from Finley.  I thought the whistle blew before there was even contact.  This is one of my least favorite plays when the offensive guy leaps into the defender.  But either way, you’ve got to look better than this.

UPDATE:  Videos up

It’s almost refreshing that this game wasn’t about Williams/Paul.  Let’s get that out of the way.  Neither had anything offensively.  The only advantage was Deron’s 16 assists to Paul’s 9.  We didn’t even see Paul the entire fourth quarter until 3:40 left in the game.  And that 8 1/2 minutes while he was out is when the Hornets made their run after being down 20.  MVP?

This game was all about the Jazz as a team and the team defense.  They’ve held the Spurs and now the Hornets to 64 & 66 points respectively.  Can we get Elias Stats to get on that to see if that’s a record?  It’s a Jazz record for sure.  It’s the best D from the Jazz I’ve ever seen.  Ever.  They must have set Sloan’s heart aflutter with all the diving for loose balls, strips, blocks, and overall hustle.  It was infectious.  It seemed like everyone was on the floor at some point.  Now that it’s spring time, maybe the Jazz are getting their super-human defensive power from the yellow sun of the earth, let’s hope there’s no kryptonite.

The only thing you have to worry about was Utah’s offense these past two games.  The Jazz seem to get out of their normal flow when it’s a big game.  That’s what happened in the last game in NO when they got blown out.  Once they were down so much, they relaxed and almost pulled that one out.  Both teams seemed to be out of sync the whole game.  It’s like they both knew the importance of the game and forgot their offenses.

The only one that was reliable this game was #13, Memo.  After Neo rescues Morpheus from the agents and Trinity from the helicopter, Morpheus says to Trinity, “Do you believe me now?”  Memo showed why he’s the one that needs to be clicking for the Jazz to make a run in the playoffs.  He was 9-20 for 22 points and 17 boards.  Millsap, Boozer, and AK all had 10.  Memo and Peja were the only ones that had decent offensive outputs for this game.  Okur was the only player to break 20 points.  Let’s hope Memo can keep this up for the next couple of months.

The team offensive stats are so were so ugly that I won’t even go over them.  Take a look if you dare.

Okay, so a little more on Williams/Paul.  The match-up everyone was hoping for never materialized.  Both only had 4 points on 2-11 shooting.  Deron had some great assists, but he was unbelievably wild.  He had 6 turnovers and on consecutive possessions through the ball way over the head of Memo.  That’s pretty hard to do when you’re 6′ 11″.  He still wound up with 16 assists on some great plays but the Jazz actually seemed to be playing better when he was out.  The same was true for Paul.  The Hornets played better with CP out as evidenced by Scott leaving in the bench to start the fourth.  They cut the Jazz lead from 20 down to 12.  We didn’t see Chris until the game was pretty much decided. You’ll have to wonder now how much that will hurt his MVP chances.  They have another game against the Lakers coming up.  If they fall in that game, that could be the death knell.

Speaking of the Lakers, they went down to the Trail Blazers last night.  That means  that the Jazz are only 1 game behind them and just 2 1/2 behind the Hornets.  The top 6 teams are now just separated by those same 2 1/2 games.  I don’t know if it’s technically possible, but it would be great for everyone to end up with the same records and they have to use tiebreakers  such as who had the better free-throw percentage in road games decided by two point or less.

And finally, almost overlooked in all of this is the fact that the Jazz are back-to-back champs, of the Northwest Division.  Like I stated in the preview, this is only the second one in Jazz history.  Karl and John only had the 97-98 seasons as repeat champs.  I think they pretty much went back and forth with the Spurs on that under the old alignment.

So we’re hitting all the goals so far.  Playoffs, check.  Division champs, check.  Winning big games late in the season, check.  Up next, home-court advantage.  The Jazz are now 2-0 on this six-game “series.”  Up next are the Mavs who have been playing very well since the return of Jirk.  It’s a road game as well but is still very winnable.  Did you ever think that would be said about the Jazz playing on the road?

Other notes,

• Now we know how Paul and Chandler get some many alley-oops.  Chandler just takes out the guard on the pick and roll.  He whacked Deron in the eye on his way their 145th oop this season.
• I appreciate letting them play, but the Jazz only went to the line 5 times?  Wow.  NO only had 13 trips.
• Millsap was a beast.  He had tip ins and boards galore.  His best play came when he stole the lazy in-bounds pass at then end of the first half to put the Jazz up 18.
• I don’t have the +-, but I would have liked to have seen more of Price.  The team seemed to be playing well while he was in.
• The Jazz game didn’t get shown on Sports Center until about 45 minutes into the broadcast.  Amazing.  We saw almost every baseball game and NBA game before that.  I was trying to give ESPN the benefit of the doubt as the NCAAW championship was the same night and the Jazz game had ended just 30 minutes earlier.  But it was a pretty significant game that got pushed way back.  We even had a Rewind of NBA games before we saw the Utah/NO game.

Other blogs,

• Hornets 24/7
• At the Hive
• My Utah Jazz & Some more
• Biased Fan
• FLA