Jazz vs Spurs Preview

*Flashback*

On December 7th, the Jazz seemed to do everything right... but it wasn't quite enough.

The Jazz out rebounded the spurs by 4. They outscored them in the paint 54-20. They held the Spurs to 43.8% shooting. They shot at a 54.2% clip. Boozer and Williams had 28 points apiece. Boozer had 17 rebounds and Williams had 10 assists. And somehow, the Spurs managed a 6 point win.

The Jazz led the entire game, though admittedly, it was a slim lead. The Jazz, however, could not finish out the game, and the Spurs pulled ahead in the fourth quarter.

*End of Flashback*

Hopefully the home court will give the Jazz that extra push they need to get a win over the Spurs tonight. In that December game, Tim Duncan was out with an injured foot. He's back and in proper form, which could significantly cut Boozer's productivity.

Kyle Korver is coming off his best game with the Jazz this season, and the Jazz will look to him to help match the outside shooting of this Spurs team.

It will be a difficult one, but tonight's game is a must-win. What's at stake? Well, the Northwest Division is VERY competitive this season. The Jazz are tied with the Blazers, and both teams are a half game behind the Nuggets. Denver will play the red-hot New Orleans Hornets tonight, who have won 8 straight games, and are currently leading the Western Conference. Therefore, if the Jazz win tonight, and the Nuggets lose tonight, the Jazz will finally find themselves on top of their division, and on their way to a playoff seed. Of course, it's still too early in the season to be speculating on such things... still.

Rockets Failed to Launch

The Jazz won their second straight road game last night beating the Houston Rockets 97-89. It was a low scoring game for the Jazz. Both teams shot a miserable percentage, although the Jazz improved in the second half.

There wasn't much to highlight in this game. Korver definitely came through when we needed him, by hitting two three pointers in the fourth quarter to give the Jazz an eleven point lead.

Boozer, coming off a spectacular game against the Kings, had a poor shooting night, and went only 4-14. He finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Their win last night makes four in a row for the Jazz, and they'll go for number 5 at home tonight versus the San Antonio Spurs.

Jazz Ruled over Kings

Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 33 points in this high scoring shootout with the Sacramento Kings. Boozer went 13 for 13 from the field until missing a reverse layup in the final second of the third quarter. This passed the Jazz's franchise record of consecutive shots hit, which was previously held by Karl Malone who converted 12 of 12 on two seperate occasions.

Andrei Kirilenko also had a great game posting 25 points including three 3-pointers. He also had 6 assists and 4 blocked shots. Everyone expected him to have a great game after getting into early foul trouble and going scoreless agains the LA Clippers on Monday.

Deron Williams ran the offense with to perfection. He tallied 16 points and 14 assists without commiting a single turnover.

The Kings held on right until the end. Ron Artest, who made an absolute fool of himself, was ejected from the game with two technical fouls. He made a ridiculous display of poor sportsmanship, and the crowd booed him througout the entire game. When he was finally sent to the locker room, the Energy Solutions Arena errupted with deafening cheers.

Reggie Theus also got himself T'd up. I'm still not sure what he was upset about. An offensive foul had just been called against Matt Harpring. The official was giving the Kings the ball to pass it in, when Theus marched out onto the court and earned a technical foul. Korver converted on all three technical free throws.

So the Jazz won it 127-113. That makes 3 wins in a row, and they'll go for the 4th tomorrow in Houston.

And now, I present my highlights reel, including my pick for "Play of the Game":

I chose that play because it got nearly everyone involved, and it shows one of the biggest keys to the Jazz's success: DEFENSE! Solid defense leads to easy baskets. This play shows that.

Jazz vs. Kings Preview

Before playing the Kings on December 4th, the Jazz were off to a great start at 13-5. Since then, they are 11-13. They lost to the Kings 117-107 in Sacramento, and that loss was the first of six consequtive losses. The Jazz, however, seem to be figuring things out. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games (could this have anything to do with the Kyle Korver trade?), and picked up their first road win since December 21st on Monday against the Clippers.

The Jazz also have one of the most impressive home court records in the NBA at 17-3. In November, they beat the Kings 117-93 at Energy Solutions Arena.

The Kings were without star point guard Mike Bibby in both matches against the Jazz this season. Since returning from his injury, Bibby is averaging 15.4 points and 4 assists per game. He is also averaging a field goal shooting percentage of 78.6 and a 3-Point shooting percentage of 48.0. While these numbers a still a hair under his career average, he seems to be near 100%.

Tip-off is at 7:00 PM on KJZZ. Come back later for post-game comments and highlights, including my pick for play of the game.