The AP reports: The Jazz had a season-high 12 blocks, made six steals and forced 12 turnovers while winning their third straight, 99-86 over the Rockets on Tuesday night. “That shows how we were playing good help defense,” said Utah’s Ronnie Brewer, who scored 12 of his 17 points in the third quarter. “We really defended well tonight.” … Deron Williams had 19 points and 12 assists for the Jazz, whose defense compensated for a poor night on the boards, getting outrebounded 52-42… Aaron Brooks scored 20 points and Yao Ming added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets… Carlos Boozer had 13 points and eight rebounds and Mehmet Okur finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Paul Millsap spelled Boozer when he got in foul trouble and finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Brewer and Andrei Kirilenko added two blocks each… Shane Battier scored 18, Ron Artest had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Luis Scola added 10 points and 12 rebounds as all five Houston starters scored in double figures.
Category: Utah Jazz Blog
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Uncertain future for Kyrylo Fesenko with Jazz
Utah Jazz big-man Kyrylo Fesenko is like a giant kid. I mean that in a good way. Each time I’ve talked with him, he just seems happy. But that doesn’t mean he’s going to stick around with the Jazz or even the NBA in the future. The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports:
Though he continues to toil with the Jazz’s NBA Development League affiliate Utah Flash, big man Kyrylo Fesenko isn’t out of mind with the Jazz brass. Asked if the verdict still remains out on Fesenko — the Jazz must decide shortly before the upcoming June NBA Draft whether to exercise their third-year contract option on the 2007 second-round pick — coach Jerry Sloan suggested it was. “He has the ability to play. It’s just what he does with that ability,” Sloan said late last week. “You know, you can talk and work with him, (but) he has to be the guy that comes out and does the work every day and gets in great shape so he can do those things. “But there’s no question he has skills to play.”
In 18 Jazz games this season Fesenko has averaged 2.4 points and 1.8 rebounds, playing just under 8 minutes per outing.
Jazz end skid with win over Wizards
The AP reports: Deron Williams admitted that the Utah Jazz put an underwhelming end to a three-game losing streak. The Jazz played well enough to beat the Washington Wizards 103-88 on Tuesday night, but knew they got away with mistakes that would have cost them against better teams… Ronnie Brewer scored 13 despite playing only the second and fourth quarters as punishment for oversleeping and missing Tuesday morning’s shootaround. Kyle Korver added 15 points on his 28th birthday as seven Utah players scored in double figures. Nick Young and Juan Dixon had 14 points each to lead Washington.
Howard’s 28, 20 lead Magic over weary Jazz
The AP reports: Dwight Howard had 28 points and 20 rebounds, leading the Orlando Magic to their third straight victory, 105-87 victory over the weary Jazz on Sunday night… Carlos Boozer had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz, coming off a triple-overtime loss in Miami a day earlier. The Magic got 16 points from point guard Rafer Alston and 14 from backup point guard Anthony Johnson… Utah point guard Deron Williams, who finished with 11 points and nine assists, left the game in obvious pain with 5:05 remaining in the second quarter after banging knees with Howard. He returned in the second half but struggled to spark the Jazz.
Wade gets 50, Heat beat Jazz in 3OT
The AP reports: Dwyane Wade finished with 50 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in another dazzling show, Jermaine O’Neal added 28 points and the Heat pulled off two huge last-ditch rallies before beating the Utah Jazz in a triple-overtime epic, 140-129 on Saturday… Wade tied his career high in scoring, set new bests in minutes (52 1/2 ), field goals made (19) and attempted (39), plus passed Alonzo Mourning to become Miami’s all-time points leader… Mario Chalmers scored 23 points for Miami, which shot 35-for-39 from the foul line and moved a season-high seven games over .500 (36-29). The Heat also got back within 1 1/2 games of Atlanta for fourth place in the Eastern Conference, and improved to 5-0 in overtime this season. Deron Williams scored 30 points and had 13 assists for the Jazz, who also got a season-high 25 points from Kyle Korver, along with seven rebounds and six assists. Carlos Boozer finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz.
Andrei Kirilenko has faded
The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports: When the season started, the plan was to bring versatile Andrei Kirilenko off the bench but perhaps play him what amounts to starter minutes. But it hasn’t exactly gone that way in the 12 games Kirilenko has played since returning from January ankle surgery. Before surgery, partly because various teammates were injured, Kirilenko played 30 minutes or more in 22 of 38 games — including one regulation-length game with 42, and 50 in a double-overtime loss at Houston. Since then, he hasn’t played more than 26 minutes. He’s often used almost exclusively now in the second and fourth quarters, and isn’t subbing in for center Mehmet Okur like at times previously. Sloan said the forward from Russia no longer is on restricted minutes, and the coach believes he’s fully healthy.
Hawks end Utah’s 12-game winning streak, 100-93
The AP reports: Deron Williams knew the Jazz wouldn’t go unbeaten through the end of the regular season. Even so, Utah’s star point guard wished his team had given itself a better chance against the Hawks to extend its winning streak to 13 games… Joe Johnson scored 31 points and Josh Smith had 22 points and 12 rebounds to help the Atlanta Hawks end Utah’s 12-game winning streak with a 100-93 victory Wednesday night… Flip Murray scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter for the Hawks. Smith ended the scoring with a pair of free throws with 24.3 seconds remaining.
Streaking Jazz beat Pacers for 12th straight win
The AP reports: The Utah Jazz prefer not to think about their longest winning streak since 1999. Mehmet Okur’s 24 points helped the Jazz beat the Indiana Pacers 112-100 on Tuesday night for their 12th straight victory, moving them one game closer to the franchise record of 15 consecutive set twice during the 1996-97 season. “Don’t jinx us,” Utah forward Carlos Boozer said… Paul Millsap had 22 points and nine rebounds, Ronnie Brewer scored 18 and Deron Williams added 12 assists for the Jazz (41-23), who haven’t lost since falling 116-96 at Golden State on Feb. 8… Jarrett Jack and Ford each had 21 points for Indiana (28-38), which continues to battle for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers finished with 22 turnovers, resulting in 26 Utah points.
D-Will scores 25, Jazz beat Raptors 109-101
The AP reports: Struggling to wake up when the game began, the Utah Jazz were wide-eyed and ready to go once the fourth quarter arrived. Deron Williams had 25 points and nine assists, Mehmet Okur had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz beat the Toronto Raptors 109-101 on Sunday for their 11th straight win… Kyle Korver matched a season-high with 20 points despite a fitful, and brief, night of rest… Paul Millsap had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Andrei Kirilenko scored 18 for the Jazz, who have won eight straight over Toronto… Chris Bosh had 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors, with Andrea Bargnani scoring 20 and Jose Calderon adding 10 points and 11 assists.
Jazz assign two to D-League
Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced Saturday that the team has assigned second-year guard Morris Almond and second-year center Kyrylo Fesenko to the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League (D-League). The two are expected to be in uniform as the Flash host the Idaho Stampede on Monday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m.
In 25 games this season (one start) the 6-6, 215 pound Almond has averages of 3.7 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists. Almond has been inactive 19 times this season and DNP-CD 18 games. The guard notched a career-high 12 points and six rebounds in a 99-94 win on December 2 at Sacramento.
Selected by the Jazz out of Rice in the first round (25th overall selection) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Almond secured his place in the D-League record books last season when he broke the league single-game scoring record with a 53-point performance on Jan. 30 at Bakersfield. Almond also earned the inaugural NBA Development League Impact Player of the Year Award which is given to a player who joins a D-League team following the start of the season. The award honors an athlete who made the greatest contribution following his in-season acquisition.
In 18 games this season (one start) the 7-1, 278 pound Fesenko has averages of 2.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists. Fesenko has been inactive 30 times this season and DNP-CD 14 games. His best outing of the season came at Houston on December 12 when he picked up his first career double-double, scoring 12 points with 11 rebounds in 34 minutes of action. Fesenko, who makes his second trip to the D-League this season, was last assigned to the Flash on January 6 and appeared in eight games (all starts), averaging 12.5 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 27.3 minutes per contest.
Originally selected by Philadelphia in the second round (38th overall selection) of the 2007 NBA Draft, the Jazz acquired Fesenko’s rights in a draft night deal that sent the draft rights to Herbert Hill (55th overall pick) and trade considerations to the 76ers.