Utah Jazz: Matthews to keep spot in starting lineup

Decent defense plus versatile perimeter play add up to an anticipated third straight start, and maybe many more, for rookie swingman Wesley Matthews.

And this time, it's not merely due to necessity.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan suggested Tuesday that — even with starting point guard Deron Williams planning to return — he intends to keep the undrafted Matthews in the opening lineup at shooting guard for tonight's game against Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors.

"Right now, the way we are, I'll probably, when Deron comes back, play Wesley at the 2," Sloan said prior to practice Tuesday morning.

"I think he's played pretty well," Sloan added. "His defensive statistics are the highest on the team, and I think that's a tribute to him."

Matthews welcomes the opportunity and does not shy away from the notion of starting in the NBA just a few months after all 30 teams in the league opted against drafting him.

"I've been a starter, really, my whole life," said Matthews, who opened 13 of his 23 games as a freshman at Marquette University in Milwaukee and all 104 as a sophomore, junior and senior.

"This (doing it in the NBA) is new to me, but, I mean, I'm tight. I'm a basketball player, and I feel pretty comfortable with these guys that they have confidence in me — that the coaching staff has expressed confidence in me.

"So I'm just gonna go out there," he added, "and keep playing the way I've been playing."

Matthews, son of former NBA guard Wes Matthews, scored a season-high 16 points when got his first NBA start in Friday night's win at Philadelphia.

Williams missed that game because he was back in Utah tending to an ill daughter, so Sloan opened with rookie first-round draft choice Eric Maynor at point guard, Matthews at shooting guard and usual starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer at small forward, while bringing usual starting small forward Andrei Kirilenko off the bench.

Kirilenko did not open and Matthews did, Sloan said at the time, because he didn't want his three available players who could initiate the offense (Maynor, Brewer and Kirilenko) all on the floor together at the start, and because Kirilenko, a sub last season, was more accustomed to coming off the bench than Brewer.

With Williams still absent the next night, the Jazz coach went with the same starting lineup for Saturday's loss at Cleveland.

Matthews scored 13 against the Cavaliers and hit a combined 7-for-8 from 3-point range in the two starts.

That helped spread the floor for a Jazz club lacking consistent outside shooting, with Kyle Korver recovering from knee surgery and C.J. Miles from thumb surgery.

"Teams have to guard him," Sloan said.