Utah Jazz: Sloan, Jazz enjoy a holiday treat

Whoever's in charge of nominating Jerry Sloan for NBA coach of the year might want to keep some extra copies of the highlight tapes from Friday night's game.

Save tape of the cheery postgame disposition and downright complimentary and chipper comments, too — and especially the part where he used the word "fun" to describe the night.

Even under what some considered seemingly dire circumstances, yes, there were plenty of fun Jazz highlights — including a very satisfying didn't-see-it-coming-like-that 97-88 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at EnergySolutions Arena.

"I think we have to give our guys some credit for the effort they put into it, because we were a little bit shorthanded," Sloan said. "It's a lot more fun to win when nobody in this world thinks you have a chance."

The highlights, mind you, came despite the injury-plagued Jazz playing without Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and, for the first time in three years, Paul Millsap.

They came despite Sloan having to draw up a 10th different starting lineup, which included a 19-year-old rookie (Kosta Koufos) and a 223-pound power forward (Andrei Kirilenko), who missed 11 of 12 shots in his first starter's role of the season.

The highlights didn't just come from temporary starters Koufos (18 points, eight rebounds) and Kirilenko (14 rebounds, nine points on 1-for-12 shooting). They also came from previously struggling and sick Ronnie Brewer (21 points and seven rebounds), C.J. Miles (14 points) and, of all people, Kyrylo Fesenko (eight points, four rebounds).

They also came despite playing a surging and dangerous Dallas team that had won three in a row, including a victory against Portland on Christmas night.

No wonder Utah's 66-year-old coach was far more giddy than grumpy after his rag-tag group ended the Jazz's two-game funk. Sure, the Mavericks (17-12) might have been tired, but Utah (18-13) was even more undermanned if you're going to compare built-in excuses.

"I thought our guys really played well," Sloan said. "Our guys were kind of shorthanded, but they came out and really did a nice job, trying to run our offense and execute.

"It really seemed," he added, "like they pulled together and tried to win the game right from the beginning of the ballgame. I was happy about that."

It showed — almost as much as it showed how frustrated Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki was when, in succession, he got constantly hounded by Kirilenko, then got pushed from behind by Fesenko, then responded by smacking Matt Harpring in the face with a backhand, then got ejected with 9:48 remaining. That sequence helped Utah build a game-high 15- point lead.