The AP reports: Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison scored 15 consecutive Wizards points during the fourth quarter. The duo’s spurt ended with Jamison’s 3-pointer that put Washington ahead 84-82 with 2 minutes left. “The deciding factor,” said Jazz point guard Deron Williams, who had eight points, seven assists and six rebounds in his second game of the season… Butler finished with 27 points and nine rebounds, while Jamison had 21 points and eight boards. They combined for 20 points in the final period, including Butler’s 3-pointer with 30 seconds left that made it 91-82… McGee set personal NBA bests with 13 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. “I was impressed,” said Carlos Boozer, who paced Northwest Division-leading Utah with 20 points.
Category: Utah Jazz Blog
Jazz basketball blog – Utah Jazz blog
Nov 11: Jazz 93, Sixers 80
The AP reports: Deron Williams played for the first time this season to lead the Utah Jazz past the Philadelphia 76ers 93-80 on Tuesday night. He had seven points and nine assists after missing the first six games because of a sprained left ankle he suffered in a preseason game Oct. 18 against Chicago… Carlos Boozer led Utah with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Andrei Kirilenko and Ronnie Brewer added 16 points apiece for the Jazz, who improved to 6-1 and lead the Northwest Division. Brewer scored all of his point in the fourth quarter after missing his first nine shots… Andre Miller scored 25 points, Andre Iguodala had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Elton Brand added 13 for the reeling Sixers, who lost their third in a row and fell to 2-5… Samuel Dalembert and Thaddeus Young each added 11 rebounds for the 76ers, who shot just 38 percent from the field.
Deron Williams back tonight
The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports: Point guard Deron Williams informed the Jazz this morning that he will try to make his 2008-09 NBA season debut tonight, when Utah visits Philadelphia in its second outing of a five-game road trip. “He told me he’s gonna play,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said after the team’s morning shootaround at Wachovia Center here. “We’ll probably play him sparingly. “You know how he is,” Sloan added. “He might want to get out there five minutes and say he feels great. But we’re gonna try to watch him pretty close.”
InsideHoops.com editor says: Obvious guess is, if D-Will does play he’ll probably play limited minutes. He might as well ease into the season over the next few games. Great that he’s finally back.
Nov 9: Knicks 107, Jazz 99
The AP reports: Jamal Crawford scored 32 points, and the Knicks toughened up defensively in the second half to end the Utah Jazz’s undefeated start with a 107-99 victory Sunday. Zach Randolph had 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks (4-2), who moved two games over .500 for the first time since they were 16-14 on Jan. 1, 2005. Chris Duhon added 16 points, nine assists and five rebounds in a strong all-around game… Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 17 rebounds for Utah, which was trying to start 6-0 for the first time since the lockout-delayed 1998-99 season… Andrei Kirilenko had 18 points and Mehmet Okur 17 for the Jazz, who were opening a five-game Eastern Conference road trip.
Deron Williams may be back within days
By InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner
Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams told InsideHoops.com he may be back on the court in a matter of days, not weeks.
Reports came out over the last day or two that he would miss 2-4 weeks. But after Sunday’s Jazz-Knicks game in New York, I caught up with D-Will in the hallway and asked about it. “it could be days,” Williams said about his hopeful return.
The Jazz were undefeated in the short NBA season until the visit to Madison Square Garden, where they have struggled in recent seasons.
Deron Williams out 4 weeks
The AP reports: Tony Parker will be out about four weeks with a sprained left ankle, a critical blow to the San Antonio Spurs, who are off to their worst start in 12 years. An MRI taken Saturday confirmed the injury to the Spurs’ star guard, who was hurt during a 99-83 loss to the Miami Heat on Friday — two nights after scoring a career-high 55 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Parker was driving for a layup when he rolled his ankle.
Nov 7: Jazz 104, Thunder 97
The AP reports: Jerry Sloan became the first NBA coach to win 1,000 games with one team, getting 16 points and 12 rebounds from Andrei Kirilenko in the Utah Jazz’s 104-97 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night. Utah fans chanted “Jerry Sloan!” and “Jer-ry! Jer-ry!” at the end in honor of the coach, who is 1,000-596 with the Jazz. Brevin Knight had 11 assists, Carlos Boozer finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, and the Jazz held on despite letting a 31-point lead slip to eight in the fourth quarter… Kevin Durant scored 24 and Jeff Green had 22 points for the Thunder, who were swept by Utah last season when they were the Seattle SuperSonics.
Jerry Sloan has 999 coaching wins
Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan is one win shy of 1,000 victories as head coach of the Jazz. With the win, Sloan will be the first head coach in NBA history to achieve 1,000 wins with one team. The Jazz head coach currently holds an overall record of 1093-717 and a 999-596 record with the Jazz.
Currently in his 21st season as head coach, Sloan is 204 victories ahead of Red Auerbach (second all-time wins with one team) and 366 wins ahead of the only other active coach in the top five, San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich (third all-time). Sloan is also the longest tenured coach in all of major professional sports. There have been 219 coaching changes in the NBA since he was named head coach of the Jazz on December 9, 1988.
Over his first 20 seasons, he has produced two conference championships, seven division titles, 16 consecutive winning seasons, 12 seasons with 50-plus wins and 18 playoff appearances. The 4-0 Jazz are seeking their third straight Northwest Division title in 2008-09.
Sloan will celebrate his 20th anniversary as Jazz head coach on December 9 when the Jazz travel to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves at 6 p.m. MST.
Ronnie Brewer emerging
The Salt Lake Tribune (Ross Siler) reports on the Jazz: Ronnie Brewer is seeing the greatest change in his role. After being used almost exclusively as a first- and third-quarter player after Kyle Korver’s arrival last season, Brewer played in all four quarters Wednesday, more than 32 minutes in all. Sloan opted to finish the second quarter with Brewer and Korver in the same lineup along with Brevin Knight, Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur. He played Carlos Boozer for barely three minutes in the quarter, letting Paul Millsap see extended action. For the third consecutive game, Brewer stayed in to start the fourth quarter, this time for 2:25. He was replaced by Korver, but came back with 5:06 after Korver picked up two fouls matched up against Travis Outlaw.
Nov 5: Jazz 103, Blazers 96
The AP reports: Brevin Knight, who joined the Jazz in the offseason, played the final 15 minutes and engineered a comeback that pushed Utah past the Portland Trail Blazers 103-96 on Wednesday night… Mehmut Okur scored 22 points and Carlos Boozer added 20—including four in the final 30 seconds—for the Jazz… Brandon Roy, who had 18 points for Portland, sliced Utah’s lead to one at 97-96 on a drive down the lane in the final minute. Andrei Kirilenko found Boozer for a layup with 29.2 seconds left to reclaim the three-point advantage… LaMarcus Aldridge also had 18 points for Portland.