From Deseret News archives:
Back on track Jazz start fast, hold on when Dallas makes comeback
Whatever the motivation, the Utah Jazz stopped a five-game Dallas Mavericks (19-10) winning streak and at least momentarily stemmed their own frustrations Wednesday night in EnergySolutions Arena with the kind of game that coach Jerry Sloan really likes to see.
"It looked like they had a lot more passion for basketball than what we've had. Somewhere you have to have that," said Sloan, whose team built a 16-0 lead to open the game by playing defense that Sloan said "was about as good in the first quarter as I've seen since I've been here.
"We had a lot of guys play well. That's what you have to have in order to beat a team like that. That's what was so satisfying."
Utah weathered several Dallas comeback attempts and wound up with a desperately needed 99-90 victory that didn't necessarily put the Jazz back in the playoff race but at least dulled some of the frustrations they've felt while losing nine of the 11 previous games.
Utah, 16-14, plays at the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night, then is back home for games against the Boston Celtics Saturday and Portland Trail Blazers Monday.
"Oh, man, we talked out there and helped," said Carlos Boozer, "did a good job of making stops when we had to make them, and we finally made our free throws down the stretch.
"It's a good win for us. It feels good to be on the other side. Hopefully we can take that as confidence and move forward."
Boozer noted that the whole team was well aware of its out-of-the-playoffs current standing and had an urgent feeling about it. "Once that got across, we have a chance to do something special, and we don't want to give it up," he said. "We're 30 games in right now. We have to make our mark now, otherwise there won't be a mark to be made."
Sloan was effusive in his praise for the way his team played, especially in the first period, which Utah won 29-18.
"They were executing. It looked like they were having fun playing basketball," said Sloan.
"They certainly need to do that. They need to have fun, and they did tonight, and our fans were in contrast to the last (home) game totally different, stayed behind them the whole time."
Recent comments
Players like Anderson or Marshall had better stats with Jazz because...
asdf | Dec. 28, 2007 at 9:42 a.m.
Hey jazzsmuck If sloan is such great coach why wasn't he able to...
jazzsmack | Dec. 28, 2007 at 2:43 a.m.
Hello Guys, as a person living outside of US, i wonder why people are...
Sinan From Turkey | Dec. 28, 2007 at 12:23 a.m.
- Two American pilots die in Iraq 12:47 a.m.
- Murder suspect is vetran, avid skier 12:47 a.m.
- MLB: Zambrano's mom kidnapped 12:32 a.m.
- Lambert surprisingly tops news 12:25 a.m.
- Philadelphia transit strike ends 12:25 a.m.
- TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd 12:24 a.m.
- 12 high schools ready for 'The Turf' 12:17 a.m.
- RSL unfazed by conference final 12:17 a.m.
- Korver and Miles to be evaluated 12:17 a.m.
- Today on TV 12:13 a.m.
- Gay advocates trek to LDS office
216 - House passes health care bill
201 - Lobo suspended
173 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
151 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
129 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - Thousands protest health bill
102 - Provo company innovating engines
101 - Utes pound winless Lobos
89 - BYU cuts Women's Research Institute
88
Here are a few leftovers from Beckerman from the "5 questions" interview.
It's almost tip time at the Spectrum as Utah State prepares to take on...
STOP blaming the Democrats, BLAME THE REPUBLICANS FOR 8 YEARS DOING NOTHING...
The best way to break the law is to become someone who enforces the law.
It's a real shame so many folks have never gotten out and gotten to know the...
It's all talk... you do not have any evidence for your claims. You assume...
Maybe if you could bat .408 in the major leagues, you too would be paid a...
I prefer the “Wizard of Earthsea” quartet by Ursula Le Guin, an...
The bottom line question that no one can possibly answer is; what will be the...
It looks to me like special treatment.
Jazz will have a tough week, with what should be a easy win against the...
I am very excited for this game. As much as I want the Utes to win, it won't...



