From Deseret News archives:
Utah Jazz get one for the road
Two minutes and 39 seconds, to be exact.
That's how long, or little, the Jazz played before Sloan called his first timeout Saturday night.
Yet it wasn't until after another timeout, with the NBA Southwest Division's last-place Memphis Grizzlies still hanging tight in the fourth quarter, that Utah finally was able to pull away en route to a 113-92 win at FedEx Forum here.
As a result, the Northwest Division-leading Jazz snapped a three-game road losing streak and won away from home (where they've taken 15 straight) for the first time since before the mid-February NBA All-Star Game break.
"It's a road victory," said point guard Deron Williams, who dished 19 of the Jazz's 37 assists Saturday — the most by a Grizzlies opponent this season.
"You know, road victories are hard to come by — especially this year," added Williams, the memory of recent losses to division bottom feeders Minnesota and the Los Angeles Clippers still obviously fresh in his mind. "So we'll take them anyway we can get 'em."
In the case, it was the hard way for the 38-22 Jazz — who were on the tail end of a grueling stretch with four games over five nights in four different cities.
"We came out and struggled again in the first quarter, which we're kind of making a habit of, and got to get away from, because we're not gonna be able to live like that," Williams said.
Memphis (14-45) jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, prompting Sloan to call a rather uncharacteristically early timeout.
"Usually Coach wants us to play through it, but he's learning we have to take timeouts to cut off the momentum a little bit," said Jazz All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer, who finished with a team-high 18 points despite late foul trouble. "So that was a good timeout."
"I was disappointed in what we were doing," added Sloan, whose club is now 4-3 since the All-Star break and faces Dallas on Monday at home. "We didn't understand. They came up and up-screened us, and we didn't call it out and just let the guy get buried on it. That was the thing that concerned me the most."
Fast-forward to the fourth quarter, and Sloan still had cause for concern.
Memphis — which led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter — trailed by just four after Kyle Lowry hit a pull-up jumper to make it 82-78 Jazz with 8:50 remaining.
Fifteen seconds after a timeout called with 8:40 to go, Boozer went to the bench with his fifth foul, Darko Milicic hit two free throws and Utah's lead stood at just two, 82-80.
But the Jazz responded.
"We just tried to stay calm," Williams said, "and I thought we did a good job after that timeout."
