Utah Jazz Blog – Page 56 – NBA Blog

Delonte West shoves a finger in the ear of Gordon Hayward

Delonte West has always been explosive.

As a scorer, the starting shooting guard for the Dallas Mavericks is capable of putting points up in a hurry. Off the court, he’s capable of becoming a train wreck, with his highly publicized gun possession case of a few years ago a shining example.

When he’s able to separate the two, West is an X-factor at the NBA level, a combination guard who can be a significant factor. Sometimes, like Monday night against the Utah Jazz, he goes overboard.

His “wet willy” of Gordon Hayward, sticking his finger in Hayward’s ear, earned him a technical foul and a seat on the bench. It earned him a spotlight in the media after Utah’s 123-121 triple overtime win at EnergySolutions Arena. It could earn him a fine from David Stern’s office as well.

“I went over the line,” West said. “I saw some lint in his hair, and I wanted to get it out for him. Seriously, we were like two warriors out there. But I forgot the NBA is a gentlemen’s game. They want us to battle and scrap, but they want us to do it nicely.”

— Reported by Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner says: Sometimes Delonte West thinks he’s an NBA player, other times he thinks he’s a q-tip. Things are confusing sometimes.

Video of Delonte West giving Gordon Hayward a “Wet Willy”

Al Jefferson shines, Jazz beat Mavericks in 3OT

Al Jefferson scored 28 points and tied a career-high with 26 rebounds to fuel Monday night’s 123-121 triple-overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

”Right now we just got to win every game, no excuse,” said Jefferson, who had 10 points in the extra periods. ”This is a big test for us. We just got to see where our heart is and I know everybody in the locker room wants to make the playoffs. So we are going to fight and we are going to fight ’til the end. That’s all we can do.” …

Dirk Nowitzki scored 40 points against Utah for the second straight time. His 3-pointer forced the second overtime, but he couldn’t convert late in the third extra period.

The Jazz forced overtime on Paul Millsap’s put-back dunk with 2.2 seconds remaining in regulation…

Jason Terry and Nowitzki both missed 3s in the final 10 seconds. Terry finished with 27 points and four 3s…

Hayward added 24 points for Utah and Harris had 23, with five 3s…

Millsap finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

— Reported by Lynn DeBruin the Associated Press

Spurs bench stars, lose to Jazz, 11-game winning streak ends

With a playoff spot locked up and a grueling stretch ahead, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich called it a ”no brainer” to rest stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

That was fine by a Utah Jazz team still trying to punch a ticket to the postseason.

After losing to the Spurs by 10 on Sunday night in San Antonio, the Jazz (30-28) rebounded with a 91-84 victory in Monday’s rematch in Salt Lake City.

”We wanted to come out and get a little bit of revenge from last night,” said Gordon Hayward, who started at shooting guard Monday for the injury-depleted Jazz. ”They battled and battled until the end and we were able to come out on top.”

Credit Devin Harris, who scored 11 straight for the Jazz in the fourth quarter and had a team-high 25 points…

Al Jefferson led the Jazz with four blocks. He added 12 points and 10 rebounds and a steal.

Paul Millsap had 18 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks for the Jazz, and sealed the win with a put-back dunk with 43 seconds remaining.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Earl Watson and C.J. Miles suffer injuries

The following is a medical update on Utah Jazz guard/forward C.J. Miles, who left last night’s game at San Antonio at the 5:43 mark of the second quarter with a left calf injury and did not return:

Miles was examined by Jazz team orthopedist Dr. Lyle Mason and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests on the calf on Monday. The MRI tests showed Miles has a moderate strain of his left calf muscle.

Miles will not travel with the team on its upcoming three-game road trip to Houston, New Orleans and Memphis. He will be re-evaluated in one week and an update on his status will be provided at that time.

Now in his sixth NBA season, all with the Jazz, Miles (6-6, 222, Skyline H.S. (TX)) has appeared in 56 games (14 starts) this season, starting each of the last 14 Jazz games. He is averaging 9.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 20.4 minutes per game.

Guard Earl Watson was examined by Jazz team orthopedist Dr. Lyle Mason and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests on the knee on Monday. The MRI tests revealed a torn medial meniscus within Watson’s right knee, which will require surgery. As a result, Watson is out indefinitely.

Watson will not travel with the team on its upcoming three-game road trip to Houston, New Orleans and Memphis. An update on his status and timeframe for his recovery will be provided following the surgery, which has not yet been scheduled.

Now in his 11th NBA season and second with the Jazz, Watson (6-1, 199, UCLA) has appeared in 50 games (two starts) this season and is averaging 3.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 20.7 minutes per game.

Jazz signing Blake Ahearn to 10-day contract

Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team is expected to sign Blake Ahearn of the NBA Development League’s Reno Bighorns to a 10-day contract. Ahearn becomes the NBA’s 50th D-League Call-Up this season. Following the transaction, the Jazz roster will stand at 15 players.

Ahearn is expected to practice on Tuesday and will travel with the Jazz when the team faces the Rockets on Wednesday at 6 p.m. MT (ROOT Sports, 1320 KFAN) in Houston.

A 2012 D-League All-Star selection, Ahearn (6-3, 190, Missouri State) appeared in 37 games, all starts, for the Bighorns this season, averaging 23.8 points, 5.1 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 37.5 minutes. Ahearn scored in double figures in all 37 appearances, including eight games scoring 30 points or more points. During the season, Ahearn established the NBA D-League’s all-time record for consecutive made free throws when he connected on 110 in a row between December 2011 and January 2012. The record tops the NBA mark of 97 set by Micheal Williams in 1993.

A five-year NBA D-League veteran, Ahearn returns to the NBA having played with the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, respectively. In 15 career NBA games Ahearn averaged 5.2 points, 1.4 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 13.0 minutes.

Ahearn becomes the eighth D-League Call-Up in Jazz history, joining Rusty LaRue (2000-01), Mikki Moore (2003-04), Louis Amundson (2006-07), Sundiata Gaines (2010-11), Othyus Jeffers (2010-11), Marcus Cousin (2011-12) and Kyle Weaver (2011-12).

Utah Jazz CEO Greg Miller and Karl Malone resolve dispute

Jazz CEO Greg Miller and Hall of Fame power forward Karl Malone are back on good terms, after all. They both attended Wednesday’s Jazz-Suns game and shared a moment of laughter together in the arena prior to tipoff.

“Yeah, Karl and I, we got it worked out,” Miller told the Associated Press. “Everything’s good.”

Malone, who had many run-ins with the late Larry H. Miller, railed on Jazz management on a local sports radio show co-hosted by Deseret News columnist Brad Rock. Malone was upset about how he deemed Jerry Sloan was treated and claimed he was forced to buy his own tickets to attend the first game after Sloan’s resignation in 2011.

— Reported by Jody Genessy of the Deseret News

Hawks beat Jazz in NBA’s first 4-overtime game since 1997

Joe Johnson scored 37 points, Josh Smith added 22 and the Atlanta Hawks ended Utah’s six-game winning streak with a 139-133 victory Sunday night in the NBA’s first quadruple-overtime game since 1997.

The four overtimes tied for the third-longest game in NBA history. It was the ninth NBA game to go four OTs and the first since Phoenix beat Portland 140-139 on Nov. 14, 1997.

Al Jefferson finished with 28 points and 17 rebounds, and Paul Millsap had 25 points and 13 boards for the Jazz before both players fouled out in the final overtime…

With 16.9 seconds remaining in the fourth OT, Johnson’s 20-foot jumper over C.J. Miles gave the Hawks a 135-131 lead.

Jeff Teague, who had 18 points and nine assists, added a pair of free throws with 13 seconds to go to make it 137-133. Johnson’s two free throws sealed the victory with 5.5 seconds remaining.

Smith fouled out with 1:57 left in the first overtime.

Zaza Pachulia, who pulled down 20 rebounds, hit a short jumper in the final seconds of the second quarter that gave the Hawks a 17-point lead, their biggest of the game.

— Reported by George Henry of the Associated Press

Arron Afflalo suspended for throwing elbow at Gordon Hayward

Arron Afflalo of the Denver Nuggets has been suspended one game without pay for throwing an elbow to the head of Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 6:32 remaining in the third quarter of Utah’s 121-102 win over Denver on March 23 at EnergySolutions Arena.

Afflalo will serve his suspension Sunday, March 25 when the Nuggets visit the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Video of incident is here.

Jazz want meeting with their guard, Raja Bell

Before Raja Bell plays another game for the Jazz, a discussion is planned between the veteran shooting guard, coach Tyrone Corbin and team management.

Utah General Manager Kevin O’Connor said Sunday he’ll be involved in the meeting, which is expected to occur prior to the Jazz’s game Monday against Detroit at EnergySolutions Arena.

O’Connor declined to discuss specific details about why a healthy Bell was unexpectedly removed Saturday from Utah’s starting lineup against Chicago. Ruled out less than five hours before tipoff due to an unspecified internal matter, Bell was not with the team during a 111-97 loss to the Bulls.

O’Connor spent the last few days scouting NCAA men’s basketball conference tournaments and was not with the Jazz during the end of a five-game road trip that saw Utah go 2-3. As a result, he wants to have a private conference with Bell and Corbin before moving forward with the situation.

“I want to sit down with Raja, and have a meeting with coach and Raja first,” O’Connor said.

— Reported by Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune

Jeremy Evans replaces Iman Shumpert in 2012 Slam Dunk contest

Jeremy Evans

Has crazy hops

The 2012 NBA Slam Dunk contest just got shaken up a bit, with one of the bright young stars unable to throw down for the weekend.

The NBA announced today that Utah Jazz forward Jeremy Evans has been added to this year’s dunk contest that will be held on Feb. 25 at Amway Center in Orlando (TNT, 6 p.m. MT). Evans joins a group of three other players in the Slam Dunk that features a series of firsts, including four first-time participants, a new single-round format in which the winner will be chosen solely by fan vote, and the introduction of fan voting via Twitter.

A 2010 second-round draft pick (55th overall) out of Western Kentucky, 61 of Evans’ 88 made shots over his first two years have been dunks, 30 of those on alley-oops. His dunk percentage of 69.3 percent is the highest in the NBA over the last two seasons. The 6-9, 194-pound high-riser owns career averages of 3.2 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.

Evans becomes the sixth player in Jazz history selected to participate in the event, joining Darrell Griffith (1984, 1985), Blue Edwards (1990, 1991), David Benoit (1993), Jamie Watson (1995) and DeShawn Stevenson (2001).

In addition to Evans, the three other players who will vie for the Sprite Slam Dunk championship include the Houston Rockets’ Chase Budinger, the Indiana Pacers’ Paul George and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Derrick Williams.

A new format will be implemented for the 2012 competition. The contest will consist of only one round and each competitor will execute three dunks. Fan voting will open after all four players have completed their first dunk. Previously, the Sprite Slam Dunk contest consisted of two rounds, with the first round scored by a panel of judges which determined two finalists.

Full coverage of the weekend is on InsideHoops.com.

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