Upper Bowl Jazz Fan

Jazz Comeback Defeats the Cavaliers – 1/14/10

// January 15th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Game Summary

Sundiata Gaines…wow.  2 weeks ago this guy was playing for the Idaho Stampede and tonight he hits a game winning shot against The Cleveland Cavaliers, one of the top 3 teams in the NBA, on national television.  He was unphased, confident, and just brilliant.  Deron Williams played just 18 minutes and left the game after re-injuring his left wrist.  Let’s pray he doesn’t miss much time but I fear he may.  Ronnie Price and Sundiata Gaines (again) stepped up to contribute big time.  After 3 quarters of play the Cavaliers led 60-55.  Those first 3 quarters will filled with poor shooting from the Jazz and an abundance of turnovers from the Cavs.  Cleveland’s 23 turnovers was a season high and the only reason the Jazz were able to stay in this game.

The Jazz led by 12 with 3:55 left in the game and couldn’t find a way to stop LeBron James from scoring 20 points in the 4th quarter to give the Cavs a 6 point lead with under a minute to play.  I thought the game was over…I was not alone.  Energy Solutions began to empty out at that point. The turning point, however, was Ronnie Price’s 3 pointer to cut the lead to 3.  The Jazz couldn’t have made a comeback if not for that shot.  Other plays hurt us: Brewer missing 2 Free Throws, fouling LeBron multiple times for 3-point plays, etc.  But Price got the Jazz back in the game.  After re-watching the game, I did noticed that LeBron took 4 steps to hit that 3 pointer after he missed his Free Throw.  Gotta love the NBA not calling travelling on the Superstars.

I can’t believe that Korver made his shot from behind the backboard to bring the Jazz within 1.  I thought that shot had no chance.  The other shot I thought had no chance?  A rookie’s first NBA 3 point attempt with 2 seconds left to win the game.  Well…it went in. (I could watch this video for hours)

Other noteworthy items: Why did CJ Miles hoist up a contested, unnecessary 3 pointer with :30ish left in the game from 4 feet beyond the arc?  CJ went 3/8 on the night and jacked up 4 contested shots.  Awesome.  LeBron was limited to only 5 points on 1 for 5 shooting in the first half.  AK played some excellent defense on him.  Conversely, LeBron scored 20 in the 4th quarter alone.  Gaines’ winning 3 pointer was his first ever in an NBA game.  You don’t get much more clutch than that.

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Utah Jazz Come Together as a team vs the Memphis Grizzles – 1/06/10

// January 6th, 2010 // No Comments » // Game Summary

Now here was a game to get excited about.  I can’t remember seeing the last time the Jazz played this way…which is sad.  This season, CJ Miles has shot the ball with a disappointing percentage (under 40%) and if you’ve ever read any of my posts…I’m not a huge fan.  I’ve got to hand it to CJ though, he played a great game.  The Grizzlies have been hot lately, beating some quality teams and getting solid performances from the likes of Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay.  Deron Williams missed the game with a sprained wrist and the Jazz dressed and played a recent D-League player, Sundiata Gaines within 1 day of signing him.  I was nervous for the game…I’m not going to lie.  There were all the signs out there that Utah might crumble again as they have done in several previous games.  Instead, the team came together for remarkable performances from nearly every player.  The 11 game win streak against the Grizz stayed alive.  Kirilenko and Matthews came off the bench with very solid performances and AK, especially, filled the stat sheet as if this was 2004.  Brewer notched a career-high 10 assists.  Between Sundiata, Brewer and Price they combined for 21 assists and only 2 turnovers.  That’s incredible.  However, what’s more astonishing is 39 assists on 47 made field goals and only 13 turnovers for the whole team.  That, my friends, is Utah Jazz basketball at it’s best.  I hope DWill being out was the spark the team needed to kick everything into high gear.

2 funny things to note: Fesenko managed to pick up 4 fouls in less than 4 minutes which could be some kind of record.  Also, Gaines notched some career highs in field goal attempts, FG made, FG percentage, free throws attempted, FT made, 3 pointers attempted, 3P made, points, rebounds, assists, steals, minutes played, and turnovers.  That’s quite the feat.

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