Utah Jazz Blog – Page 84 – NBA Blog

Jazz assign Kyrylo Fesenko to D-League

Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team has assigned second-year center Kyrylo Fesenko to the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League (D-League). He is expected to be in uniform tonight as the Flash hosts the Anaheim Arsenal at 7:15 p.m. as part of the D-League Showcase.

In 10 games this season (one start) the 7-1, 278 pound Fesenko has averages of 2.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists. Fesenko has been inactive 13 times this season and DNP-CD 12 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.

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.

Williams helps Jazz hold off Warriors

The AP reports: Paul Millsap scored 19 points and had 14 rebounds to lead the Jazz to a 119-114 victory over the Warriors on Monday night. It was his 18th consecutive double-double in place of Boozer, who has missed 23 straight games since injuring his left knee on Nov. 19. Boozer will have arthroscopic knee surgery Friday… Deron Williams had 25 points and 15 assists, Ronnie Brewer scored seven crucial points down the stretch to help the Jazz hold off the Warriors… Mehmet Okur had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Andrei Kirilenko added 15 for the Jazz… Jamal Crawford scored 28 points and Maggette had 23 points in his return but the Warriors have now lost four of five games and were winless on their three-game road trip… Andris Biedrins had 14 points and 17 rebounds, but no other Warrior grabbed more than five boards.

Carlos Boozer needs knee surgery

Utah Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer is a key part of the team, but like so many other players on the squad this season, injury has been his worst opponent. So far in 2008-08 Boozer has played just 12 games, and he hasn’t played since November 19.

It appears he’ll be out longer, probably for another month, possibly longer. The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports:

Jazz All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer will undergo arthroscopic surgery sometime next month on his injured left knee. No specific date for the operation is set, but the team is targeting Jan. 9… A timetable for Boozer’s continued absence will not be released until sometime after the surgery, though O’Connor said he expects Boozer to be out at least another month.

With 19 wins and 14 losses, the Jazz have actually done fairly well considering the amount of injuries they’ve suffered. If the season ended today they’d just only miss the 8th spot of the playoffs by virtue of a tie-breaker that they’d lose to the Phoenix Suns.

Williams leads short-handed Jazz over 76ers

The AP reports: Deron Williams got out of bed Monday feeling his best and made sure the reeling Philadelphia 76ers knew it. He scored 27 points to help the short-handed Jazz beat Philadelphia 112-95… With two of Utah’s top three scorers out with injuries and Mehmet Okur limited with a sore back, the normally unselfish Williams made 11 of 18 shots, including four 3-pointers. He has battled ankle and calf injuries since the preseason… Andrei Kirilenko, filling in for injured power forwards Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap, had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and changed a number of shots in the lane. Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young each scored 17 points for Philadelphia, which dropped its fourth straight and is winless on its six-game road trip with three more remaining.

Dirk Nowitzki suspended one game

ESPN.com (Marc Stein) reports: Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has received a one-game suspension for striking Utah’s Matt Harpring in the face with a backhanded swipe Friday night. The league announced the suspension three hours before the Mavericks’ 12:30 p.m. PT Sunday tipoff against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center. The Mavericks were not informed of Nowitzki’s enforced absence until Sunday morning. The league office began reviewing Nowitzki’s flagrant foul/penalty 2 on Harpring on Saturday. The foul resulted in Nowitzki’s ejection early in the fourth quarter of Dallas’ 97-88 defeat on Friday night… Nowitzki was ejected for swinging his arm in response to under-the-basket contact from Harpring. Video replays confirmed that although it was a backhanded swipe, Nowitzki made a closed-fist connection with Harpring’s face on his follow-through.

Dec 27: Rockets 120, Jazz 115, 2OT

The AP reports: The Houston Rockets acquired Ron Artest to win games like this. Artest scored 10 of his 28 points in the second overtime and the Rockets recovered from blowing a 16-point lead in the second half to beat the Utah Jazz 120-115 on Saturday night. Yao Ming had 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Rockets, who led 59-43 early in the third quarter, then went 3-for-18 from the field in the fourth to fuel Utah’s comeback… Ronnie Brewer scored 23 and Deron Williams had 14 points and 11 assists for the Jazz, who played without their top three scorers and rebounders—Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap—for the second straight game… “We came back in the second half, but couldn’t finish the game,” said Andrei Kirilenko, who scored 20.

Dec 26: Jazz 97, Mavs 88

The AP reports: Running out of forwards and centers, the Utah Jazz turned to rookie Kosta Koufos and seldom-used Kyrylo Fesenko. Both came through with career high scoring nights and anchored a patchwork lineup as Utah beat the weary Dallas Mavericks 97-88 on Friday night. Koufos scored 18 points and Fesenko added eight points as the short-handed Jazz pulled ahead early and never gave up the lead, ending Dallas’ three-game winning streak… With Utah missing its top three scorers and rebounders in Carlos Boozer (quad), Paul Millsap (knee) and Mehmet Okur (back), Koufos made his sixth career start and had his best game since leaving Ohio State after his freshman year… Koufos was 8-for-11 and also had eight rebounds and the Jazz outscored the Mavericks 52-34 in the paint and topped his previous career high of 12 points… Reserve Jason Terry led Dallas with 26 points. Nowitzki had 17 points and eight rebounds before he was tossed for backhanding Matt Harpring with 9:48 left in the game after Fesenko scored on an offensive rebound.

Paul Millsap out 7-10 days

The following is a medical update on Utah Jazz forward Paul Millsap, who injured his left knee in the first half of the game at Milwaukee on December 23.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests conducted on Millsap’s left knee on Wednesday showed that Millsap suffered a sprained posterior cruciate ligament (PCL).

Millsap will not play in Friday’s game vs. Dallas, marking the first game he has missed in his NBA career. His streak will end at 194 straight games played, which was the seventh-longest active streak in the NBA. Millsap will not travel with the team to Houston for tomorrow night’s game at the Rockets and is expected to miss seven to 10 days of action.

Suns sign Dee Brown

The Phoenix Suns have signed free-agent guard Daniel “Dee” Brown to a contract, the club announced today.

A two-year NBA performer, Brown was originally selected by the Utah Jazz with the 46th overall pick (second round) in the 2006 NBA Draft. The 6-0, 181-pound guard spent his rookie season in Salt Lake City where he appeared in 49 regular season games off the bench and eight more in the playoffs. The 24-year-old played in Turkey for Galatasaray Café Crown in 2007-08 where he averaged 12.3 points during the regular season and 14.7 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds during postseason play. Brown signs with the Suns after appearing in 17 games (11 starts) and seeing 13.7 minutes of action with the Washington Wizards to begin 2008-09. He now owns career averages of 2.0 points, 1.0 rebound and 1.8 assists in 68 NBA contests.

Brown’s stellar career at the University of Illinois was highlighted by his 2006 win of the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s top point guard in his senior season. The Illini standout led the Big Ten in assists (5.8) and ranked 18th in the nation overall. Brown posted those numbers while leading his team in scoring average (14.2), steals (1.61), minutes (35.8) and free-throw percentage (.757) and leading the team in scoring in 15 of 33 games.

Nicknamed “The One Man Fastbreak” in college due to his quickness, Brown was selected the Sporting News’ National Player of the Year and named the Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year as a junior. Most notably, he became the first consensus First Team All-American at Illinois since 1952 after helping to lead the Illini to a 29-0 start and a berth in the national title game.

Brown is a graduate of Proviso East High in Maywood, Ill., the same high school attended by Celtics coach Doc Rivers and San Antonio Spurs guard Michael Finley.

Dec 23: Bucks 94, Jazz 86

The AP reports: The Milwaukee Bucks shot 1-of-16 from 3-point range and 39 percent from the field. That probably would have meant a blowout loss not long ago. Not anymore. Michael Redd scored 27 points Tuesday night to lead the surging Bucks to their third win in a row and fifth in six games, 94-86 over the Utah Jazz. “It’s huge for us,” said Luke Ridnour, who had 11 points, 11 assists and six steals… Reserve Andrei Kirilenko scored a season-high 22 for Utah. Deron Williams added 17 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, but had seven of Utah’s 24 turnovers… The Jazz were playing without center Mehmet Okur, who sat out with back spasms, and forward Carlos Boozer, who missed his 18th straight with a strained left quad tendon.