Owner Real Deal Posted December 24, 2011 Owner Report Share Posted December 24, 2011 TIME: 9:00 PM ET TV: NBALP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Built Ford Tough Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Utah Jazz have a winning record for the first time this season and feel like they're just getting started. "Everything is going the right direction. I feel like we're just scratching the surface. The positive energy on the team is just amazing," guard Earl Watson said. Al Jefferson had 20 points and nine rebounds, and the Jazz reserves, led by Watson, outscored their Memphis Grizzlies counterparts by 30 points on the way to a 94-85 victory Friday night. "We feel like our five off the bench could start in this league. We five off the bench believe we can dominate and change the game," said Watson, who had 11 points and five assists as the Jazz reserves outscored the depleted Memphis bench 41-11. Paul Millsap scored 14 and Josh Howard had 13 points and a key steal in the fourth quarter to help Utah (4-3) stay unbeaten at home in four games. The Jazz harassed the Grizzlies into 6-for-33 shooting in the fourth quarter and the interior defenders repeatedly challenged at the rim to block 10 shots, boosting their NBA-leading average of 7.5 per game. "I thought our defense was about as good as I've seen it from one to five. The stuff we did on the defensive end was really encouraging," Utah coach Ty Corbin said. Tony Allen made two free throws to give Memphis a 63-56 lead, its largest of the second half, with 4:56 left in the third quarter. But the Jazz, with all reserves on the court, went on an 11-1 run to end the period, capped by an offensive rebound and fallaway shot by rookie Enes Kanter that brought the crowd to its feet and put Utah up 67-64. "I should be embarrassed to say it, but sometimes we start out or play a little sluggish but Derrick Favors and Big Turkey (Kanter) come in and show us how to do it. When we come back in, we just try and keep up what they got going," Jefferson said. Millsap sparked a 9-0 spurt in the fourth quarter to widen the gap to 78-68 with 6:16 to play. "That run kind of stunned us. We weren't able to weather that storm," Allen said. Marc Gasol and Allen both scored 21 points and Rudy Gay added 17, but the Grizzlies had 20 turnovers and appeared bothered by Utah's rugged style of defense. http://www.nba.com/games/20120106/MEMUTA/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0021100107#nbaGIboxscore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.