Utah Jazz Blog – Page 86 – NBA Blog

Jazz injury update

The Utah Jazz continue to be struck by injury as they host the visiting Miami Heat Wednesday night.

Carlos Boozer (strained left quad tendon) and Andrei Kirilenko (right ankle inflammation) are both out and won’t play this evening.

Matt Harpring and Deron Williams are both game-time decisions.

The Jazz have 12 wins and just 7 losses, good for the 8th best winning percentage in the NBA this season. They’ve done well, considering Williams, their star point guard, is shooting just 41.7% in the 6 games he’s played. He’s been a play-maker as expected when on the court, and that’s more important than missing a few more shots than usual.

Boozer has had a terrific season when out on the court and not on the sideline. He’s shooting 55.9% for 20.5 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

Dec 2: Jazz 99, Kings 94

The AP reports: Kyle Korver scored 15 points and Deron Williams had two key baskets in the final minute to give the Utah Jazz a 99-94 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night. After Beno Udrih scored to put the Kings ahead by one, Williams, who had 14 points, responded with a layup and a jumper, putting Utah ahead 93-90. The Jazz made six free throws in the final 13 seconds to secure the victory, their third in four games. Ronnie Brewer scored 14 points and Paul Milsap had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Morris Almond added 13 points for the Jazz, who committed 25 turnovers… Brad Miller had 18 points and nine rebounds, Udrih scored 17, Spencer Hawes had 14 points, and Francisco Garcia added 11 for Sacramento.

Jazz hurt by injuries

The Utah Jazz have 11 wins and 7 losses this season, which is pretty good considering they’ve had more injuries than a hospital. The Deseret News (Loren Jorgensen) writes:

The fact remains that the Jazz have been bitten hard by the injury bug this season. Consider that last year Jazz players missed a grand total of 45 games due to injury or personal reasons through the entire 82-game regular. Through Friday night’s home win over the Sacramento Kings, however, Jazz players had missed 52 games due to injury or personal reasons already. And that’s in only 17 games. Deron Williams, Utah’s unquestioned floor leader, missed 13 games with a sprained left ankle. His return this week has seemed to energize the entire club even though the Jazz are still missing Carlos Boozer, one of the few NBA players who can average 20-plus points and 10-plus boards.

The Jazz remain a lower-level championship contender. Meaning, a title is possible, but it would be a bit surprising if they managed to pull it off. But again, they’ve been hurt. A bunch of top West teams aren’t playing so great this season. Once Utah is healthy, they could wind up being the second or third best team in the entire West, and better than almost anyone in the East other than the Celtics.

Jazz arena sticking around

The Salt Lake Tribune (Steve Luhm) reports: Among the 30 NBA arenas, Energy Solutions is the the ninth-oldest. Of the eight arenas that are older, three have been renovated in recent years and one – Amway Arena in Orlando – will be vacated in 2010-11 when the Magic move into a new $480 million home. There is some good news for the Jazz and their fans, however. According to team president Randy Rigby, EnergySolutions Arena has not outlived its usefulness. “We are in an older building, there’s no question about that,” Rigby said. “But the positive thing is, we have the structure and design in place that gives us a lot of opportunities to make modifications and extend the life of this building – easily – for another 15 years. . . . It can be a very viable and productive building for a long time.”

Nov 29: Nets 105, Jazz 88

The AP reports: Devin Harris had 34 points and six assists and the Nets beat the Jazz 105-88 on Saturday night, giving New Jersey its fourth win in five games… Vince Carter added 22 points, Yi Jianlian added 11 points and Bobby Simmons scored 10 for New Jersey, which wraps up the road trip Sunday night at Phoenix. The Nets outrebounded the Jazz, outscored them inside and prevented Utah’s fast break from getting going… Utah was without All-Star forward Carlos Boozer (thigh) for the sixth straight game and lost Andrei Kirilenko to an ankle injury in the second quarter… Paul Millsap led the Jazz with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Williams had 10 points and 13 assists and Mehmet Okur had 10 points and 11 rebounds as three Utah starters had double-doubles, but the bench contributed just 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Nov 28: Jazz 120, Kings 94

The AP reports: The Jazz scored 44 points in the third quarter and beat the Sacramento Kings 120-94 on Friday night, getting 15 assists from Deron Williams in just his fifth game of the season. Williams, who missed 13 games with a sprained left ankle from the preseason, had nine assists in the third and then got to rest on the bench for the entire fourth as the Jazz reserves finished off the blowout… C.J. Miles scored 16 of his 18 in the third, including a dunk off an alley-oop from Williams during a 3-on-none break as the Jazz blew open the game after letting the Kings tie it at 50 at halftime… John Salmons led Sacramento with 20 points. Beno Udrih was the only other Sacramento starter to score in double figures… Mehmet Okur had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Utah. Paul Millsap, starting for Boozer, had 11 points and 11 boards. Reserves Andrei Kirilenko, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Price each scored 12. Spencer Hawes added 18 points for the Kings, who sent the Jazz to the foul line 34 times. Utah was 22-for-34 from the line while Sacramento went 9-for-12.

Jarron Collins out 6+ weeks

The following is a medical update on Utah Jazz center Jarron Collins, who has appeared in only two games this season due to right elbow inflammation and triceps tendinitis:

After meeting with Jazz team physician Dr. Lyle Mason, Collins has opted to take a non-surgical approach to the injury. He will allow the elbow to heal for the next six weeks through triceps strengthening, shooting and cardiovascular work.

Collins will be re-evaluated on January 3, at which point a further update will be provided.

Now in his eighth season with the Jazz, Collins has appeared in two games this season (one start), totaling one rebound and one block in 16 scoreless minutes. He was originally selected by the Jazz in the second round (53rd overall pick) of the 2001 NBA Draft and owns career averages of 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 456 games (204 starts).

Nov 24: Bulls 101, Jazz 100

The AP reports: Even when he missed, Derrick Rose was on target. The Chicago rookie tied his career high with nine assists and accidentally set up Larry Hughes’ game-winning shot as the Bulls beat the Jazz 101-100 on Monday night, giving Utah its first home loss of the season. With Chicago trailing 100-99, Rose took an 18-foot jumper that bounced high off the rim and right to Hughes, who beat the buzzer and the Jazz from 22 feet away. “We needed that win and we didn’t care how we got it,” said Rose, who scored 10 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter… Mehmet Okur had 26 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz, who outscored the Bulls 30-19 in the third quarter, but didn’t have enough to hold off Chicago down the stretch… Drew Gooden had 18 points and Ben Gordon scored 15 for the Bulls, who improved to 2-3 on a seven-game road trip… Paul Millsap had 21 points and 10 rebounds in his second start for Boozer before fouling out with 1:18 left in the game.

Nov 22: Jazz 103, Grizzlies 94

The AP reports: Mehmet Okur had a season-high 23 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 103-94 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night. Okur was 9-of-15 from the field, including missing only one of his five shots from 3-point range, as the Jazz won the sixth straight game in the series. Ronnie Brewer, who was 10-of-14 from the floor, added 21 points, Morris Almond had 11, and Ronnie Price 10. O.J. Mayo led Memphis with 23 points, and Rudy Gay added 21. Darrell Arthur had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Mike Conley finished with 14 points and eight assists. The Jazz were short-handed. Guard Deron Williams missed his 12th game because of a sprained ankle, Carlos Boozer sat out with a strained left quadriceps, and Kyle Korver was sidelined by an inflamed right wrist.

Nov 19: Jazz 105, Bucks 94

The AP reports: Ronnie Price played the entire second half and scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter when the Jazz outscored the Bucks 31-18… Carlos Boozer added 20 points and 11 rebounds before leaving because of a strained left quadriceps that wasn’t expected to sideline him long… Andrei Kirilenko, who played point guard at times for the depleted Jazz, had 16 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four blocks to help the Jazz stay undefeated at home and extend their mastery of the Bucks to eight straight games… Richard Jefferson scored 25 points, and Andrew Bogut had 16 points and 20 rebounds for Milwaukee, coming off a loss in Denver on Tuesday night. Charlie Bell and Ramon Sessions had 15 points each for Milwaukee.