Utah Jazz Vs. TTTSNBN Preview
The Utah Jazz has had a good three days to rest before taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight. Hopefully the rest will prove to be beneficial, because this is a huge game. It’s the last game against a division opponent and would put the Jazz at .500 for the season against teams in their division.
Here are a few things that the Jazz need to do to get a win tonight:
• Come out strong and score inside before taking unnecessary long jumpers.
• Try to contain Durrant as much as possible and keep him off the free throw line.
• Don’t let Kristic get easy layups and get a hand in his face on all jump shots.
• Deron needs to look to score on Westbrook.
• If Durrant can’t be contained, make sure the rest of the team is not taking advantage of the double-teaming.
• Get Boozer going early – get him the ball!
• Pray that CJ is on tonight.
The last 5 games are must wins, but the last two home games are especially crucial. The Jazz can’t afford another late season melt down. They need this game! My prediction: Jazz 108 Thunder 97.
I hate the Los Angeles Lakers #79 or 90 million other reasons.
I hate the Los Angeles Lakers #78 90 million dollars. As I predicted at the beginning of the year, the Lakers have signed Kobe to a 3 year extension keeping Kobe, Gasol, Odom, Artest, Bynum together until the end of the 2013 season, which also happens to be the last year of Deron’s Contract. Meaning, that unless we get really big, really quick, Deron will be probably bounce in the prime of his career after not winning a championship with the Utah Jazz because of the Lakers.Does this bother me yes, even though I am expecting it.
The Jazz are in one of the craziest playoff races I can remember even crazier than a few years back when all the West teams had a bunch of teams close to 50 win (which may happen this year). They will end up anywhere from 2-5 barring a major injury or collapse on the Jazz’ part. It is hard not to get caught up into the the whole playoff odds, and who will the Jazz play roller coaster. I realized today that it really doesn’t matter. Without some major upsets the Jazz will likely have to win seven game series against the Spurs, the Nuggets, the Lakers, and the Cavs or Magic to win an NBA Championship. That is sixteen games against some really good teams. I am not trying to be a Debby Downer here I just have to prepare for the long miserable sumer with no basketball and this is how I do it. If you have followed the website for a while you know I get this way every year around this time.
Despite all the struggles the Lakers have had for the past little while, I feel that they will dominate this game tonight. Two reasons, Lamar Odom and our last few road games against good teams we have started horribly. Odom is the Lakers version of AK has some amazing nights with 18-9-5-3 and then has craptastic nights with 9-4-1-0. He has plaed uber well against the Jazz over the past few seasons.
Deron should Dominate Fisher, and Matthews should make Kobe play D.
STATS-
Preview | GameTrax | Depth Chart | Head-to-Head
| Jazz | Key Team Stats | Lakers |
 104.2 |
Points scored |  102.3 |
| 98.1 |
Points allowed | 97.0 |
| .492 |
FG% own | .460 |
| .448 |
FG% opposition | .444 |
| .364 |
3PT% own | .343 |
| .349 |
3PT% opposition | .325 |
| 803 |
Offensive Rebounds | 881 |
| 2384 |
Defensive Rebounds | 2445 |
| 3187 |
Total Rebounds | 3326 |
| 1.9 |
Assist/Turnover Ratio | 1.6 |
| 22.5 |
Fouls Per Game | 19.5 |
| Scoring Stats | Jazz | Lakers | ||
| Stat | Rk | Stat | Rk | |
| Winning % | .658 | 4 | .720 | 2 |
| Points Per Game | 104.2 | 4 | 102.3 | 7 |
| Points Allowed Per Game | 98.1 | 12 | 97.0 | 10 |
| Points Off Turnovers Per Game | 18.5 | 2 | 16.6 | 13 |
| Points Allowed Off Turnovers Per Game | 16.8 | 21 | 15.4 | 6 |
| Field Goals Attempted | 6072 | 17 | 6289 | 6 |
| Opposition Field Goals Attempted | 5979 | 8 | 6259 | 23 |
| Field Goals Made | 2986 | 3 | 2896 | 9 |
| Opposition Field Goals Made | 2681 | 7 | 2782 | 15 |
| Field Goal % | .492 | 1 | .460 | 15 |
| Opposition Field Goal % | .448 | 7 | .444 | 4 |
| Free Throws Attempted | 2086 | 2 | 1820 | 17 |
| Opposition Free Throws Attempted | 2103 | 28 | 1646 | 2 |
| Free Throws Made | 1544 | 3 | 1393 | 15 |
| Opposition Free Throws Made | 1595 | 28 | 1241 | 2 |
| Free Throw % | .740 | 24 | .765 | 12 |
| Opposition Free Throw % | .758 | 14 | .754 | 10 |
| Defensive Stats | Jazz | Lakers | ||
| Stat | Rk | Stat | Rk | |
| Total Rebounds Per Game | 41.9 | 13 | 44.3 | 1 |
| Opposition Total Rebounds Per Game | 39.1 | 3 | 42.1 | 17 |
| Offensive Rebounds Per Game | 10.6 | 19 | 11.7 | 10 |
| Opposition Offensive Rebounds Per Game | 10.3 | 7 | 11.1 | 15 |
| Defensive Rebounds Per Game | 31.4 | 11 | 32.6 | 4 |
| Opposition Defensive Rebounds Per Game | 28.8 | 4 | 30.9 | 18 |
| Team Rebounds Per Game | 8.8 | 6 | 8.3 | 13 |
| Opposition Team Rebounds Per Game | 8.0 | 9 | 8.0 | 9 |
| Steals Per Game | 8.3 | 3 | 7.7 | 9 |
| Opposition Steals Per Game | 7.6 | 22 | 7.1 | 11 |
| Blocked Shots Per Game | 5.0 | 12 | 4.8 | 18 |
| Opposition Blocked Shots Per Game | 5.4 | 24 | 4.4 | 6 |
| Assists & Turnovers Stats | Jazz | Lakers | ||
| Stat | Rk | Stat | Rk | |
| Assists Per Game | 26.8 | 1 | 21.1 | 15 |
| Opposition Assists Per Game | 19.6 | 7 | 21.7 | 20 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 14.3 | 21 | 13.2 | 10 |
| Opposition Turnovers Per Game | 14.4 | 6 | 13.5 | 18 |
| Team Turnovers Per Game | 0.6 | 8 | 0.4 | 2 |
| Opposition Team Turnovers Per Game | 0.7 | 8 | 0.8 | 2 |
| Fouls & Penalties Stats | Jazz | Lakers | ||
| Stat | Rk | Stat | Rk | |
| Personal Fouls Per Game | 22 | 26 | 19 | 3 |
| Opposition Personal Fouls Per Game | 22.2 | 4 | 21.1 | 13 |
| Disqualifications (Fouled Out) | 16 | 28 | 5 | 2 |
| Opposition Disqualifications (Fouled Out) | 13 | 4 | 12 | 6 |
| Player Technical Fouls | 16 | 9 | 41 | 29 |
| Opposition Player Technical Fouls | 16 | 23 | 26 | 9 |
| Team Technical Fouls | 14 | 3 | 29 | 14 |
| Opposition Team Technical Fouls | 22 | 23 | 13 | 30 |
| Coach Technical Fouls | 4 | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| Opposition Coach Technical Fouls | 4 | 14 | 4 | 14 |
| Bench Technical Fouls | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Opposition Bench Technical Fouls | 0 | 16 | 2 | 1 |
| Flagrant Fouls | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Opposition Flagrant Fouls | 4 | 5 | 2 | 15 |
| Player Ejections | 1 | 11 | 2 | 25 |
| Opposition Player Ejections | 2 | 2 | 0 | 20 |
| Coach Ejections | 1 | 19 | 0 | 1 |
| Opposition Coach Ejections | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
As if you didn’t know already…Jazz Take over Division Lead
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=300329026
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post: “Chauncey Billups proclaimed this as the opportune moment for his team to take a hard look in the mirror, but perhaps no one has already beat themselves up more than he has. The veteran Nuggets guard insisted he will become a more prominent voice in the locker room, the film room and the huddle as the team searches for some sort of chemistry in order to survive a rugged seven-game stretch run, five of which are against teams currently in a playoff spot. ‘I don’t think it’s that complicated,’ Billups said. ‘For one, I think you just, when you’re in a position like this you’ve got to look in the mirror and you’ve got to look at what you can do better. And for me, as the leader of the team, I probably haven’t been doing a good enough job of leading the team in game situations and even out of game situations, film sessions, and stuff like that. I probably haven’t taken a big enough piece of the pie of the responsibility as probably I should have. I know it’s going to be easy to point to (acting coach Adrian Dantley’s) inexperience or us not having Kenyon (Martin), but I think that really you have to point to the leaders of the team, first and foremost myself and say have to do more. Period. We have to do more.’ ”
O Canada…Utah Jazz @ Toronto Raptors
New York Beat Denver Last Night and they head to Boston tonight to play a team that has to be fired up after losing to the Utah Jazz on Monday night. As a fan it is hard not to scoreboard watch at this point in the season, especially when the teams are so close together and so much is at stake. Here are the current standings as of Wednesday Morning.
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| WESTERN | W | L | PCT | GB | HOME | ROAD | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | DIFF | STRK | L10 | |
| 1 | x – LA Lakers | 52 | 18 | .743 | - | 32-5 | 20-13 | 12-2 | 30-11 | 102.9 | 96.9 | +6.0 | Won 6 | 7-3 |
| 2 | Denver | 47 | 24 | .662 | 5 ½ | 30-6 | 17-18 | 10-4 | 29-15 | 107.5 | 102.4 | +5.0 | Lost 2 | 7-3 |
| 3 | Dallas | 47 | 24 | .662 | 5 ½ | 25-11 | 22-13 | 7-6 | 25-17 | 101.7 | 99.8 | +1.9 | Won 1 | 7-3 |
| 4 | Utah | 46 | 25 | .648 | 6 ½ | 29-8 | 17-17 | 7-8 | 27-18 | 103.7 | 98.0 | +5.7 | Won 2 | 7-3 |
| 5 | Phoenix | 45 | 26 | .634 | 7 ½ | 28-9 | 17-17 | 12-4 | 30-16 | 110.1 | 106.1 | +4.0 | Won 5 | 8-2 |
| 6 | San Antonio | 42 | 27 | .609 | 9 ½ | 25-10 | 17-17 | 8-5 | 26-17 | 101.4 | 96.6 | +4.8 | Won 1 | 7-3 |
| 7 | Oklahoma City | 42 | 27 | .609 | 9 ½ | 22-12 | 20-15 | 8-3 | 22-19 | 100.1 | 96.9 | +3.2 | Lost 2 | 6-4 |
| 8 | Portland | 42 | 29 | .592 | 10 ½ | 23-13 | 19-16 | 6-7 | 26-16 | 97.9 | 94.9 | +3.0 | Lost 1 | 8-2 |
Few things that blow my mind away with this snapshot-Dallas is the best team in the west on the Road. Each team in the west has been playing amazing basketball over the past ten games and from the 2 spot through the 7 spot is only 4 games or one sprained ankle. Either way the next three weeks will be fun to watch.
I have always like Chris Bosh, I love his power moves, his jump shot and that he is left handed, which forces defenders a few minutes to adjust.
We have to win this game. Phoenix is playing like gangbusters and a possessed Amare scares me, a lot.
Toronto has won two in a row and are sitting in the eighth spot and will most likely stay there barring a total collapse.
Jazz are looking to win their tenth in a row over the Toronto Raptors but have lost three straight road games and in two of those game the Jazz didn’t hit a three pointer.
Jazz need to come out strong which they have not been doing at all lately. Ak will probably not play but stay close to twitter for any updates.
Here is the Accuscore for the game.
Accuscore Jazz @ Raptors
Other games to keep an eye on
Denver @ Boston ESPN
Houston @ TTTSNBN
LAKER @ SPURS ESPN
Jazz @ Raptors Jazz win 98-93- Korver is the unsung hero.
GaGa Oohhlaalaa- Cj Miles and a Third quarter from the Basketball gods sink Celtics
So I believe that every Laker fan has a Celtics Jersey in the back of their closet for the once a year visit from the Celtics. Last night was ridiculous. We had no less than twenty Celtics fans in our section and if there is anything worse than a Lakers fan(almost impossible), it is a loud, drunk Boston fan.
Suck it Celtics fans. As the Jazz hit the and one with about six minutes left I starting screaming “It’s over” (ala Vince Carter Dunk Contest in the 2000 dunk Contest) very loud at the Celtics fans sitting in front of us and behind us”.
I’m not fully on the C.J. Miles bandwagon, but he was one of the biggest reasons we won last night. Cj Miles had 23 points on 16 shots and 5-6 from the line and hit some huge shots when the Jazz needed some points. Even more importantly he held Pierce to 11 points and no baskets after the first quarter.
Paul Pierce stat line
C.J. I love you, until you shoot 3-14. I hope you have learned that when you attack the rim you get free throws and the defense guards the drive allowing you to hit the long ball. I hope you learn a lesson from last night and keep up the aggressiveness.
Mehmet Okur probably had one of the best 6 minute stretches of his career putting up 11 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks in the amazing 3rd quarter. Memo finished with 14-15 and a couple of huge timeout chest bumps that made the Cavs look like amateurs.
Rondo is overrated and would not be anything if he played in the Western conference and had to play D-Will, Paul, Nash, Kidd, Ellis/Curry, Miller, Evans, Parker, Flynn, Billups every night. Rose eats his lunch every time they play as well, just some thoughts.
Oooo Im scared a technical
Doc Rivers you sly dog, egging on the refs. In the post game he said that he didn’t even cuss cause you know it is Utah and all. Whatever he said got a T which led to this- and this got Doc kicked out of the game.
It was quite humorous after this the ref walked to the other side of the court and Doc Rivers openly mocked him and kept clapping in his direction.
Glen “Big Baby” Davis is really a baby.
O you got some spitup under your chin.
Overall, this was a huge win, Obviously. I really didn’t think we were going to win last night, even when we cut it to five just before the half. I’m not convinced that CJ can do this every night, nor do we need him to, but I am glad that he recognizes when the Alphamales— Deron and Boozer are struggling.
We should sweep the rest of the week.
We got some help from NO and SA last night as they beat Dallas and OKC. It is that time of season when we should start to scoreboard watch. Add the Knicks to that list as well.
PLAY of the night #4 Boozer getting a little Defensive about Ray Allen’s actions.
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The Utah Jazz Podcast: “I have done some really bad things”.
