Utah Jazz notebook: Team enjoying respite from rigors of NBA travel

After beating Memphis on Monday for their third consecutive victory and sixth in seven games, the Jazz are off until ending a six-game homestand Friday against Indiana.

They didn't practice Tuesday, but plan to this morning and Thursday morning.

And by Thursday night, they will have gone a rare two straight weeks without a road game — a welcome respite from the rigors of NBA travel, indeed.

"It's been great," point guard Deron Williams said.

"It's good to come home," he added, "especially when you're struggling a little bit."

Also in the midst of playing 11-of-14 at EnergySolutions Arena, the Jazz were 4-6 before that particular stretch began.

Now, they're 10-7 — and rolling.

"They're playing really well," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said after Monday's game, one in which the Grizzlies trailed by as many as 32 before eventually falling by 27. "They've destroyed couple of teams in their last games, and we just got added to that."

It was Utah's third straight outing, along with ones against Chicago and Portland, in which it has built a lead of at least 25

HE LIKES IT: He hasn't always enjoyed playing off the ball.

But, beckoning back to his days alongside ex-Jazz guard Dee Brown at the University of Illinois, Williams really is taking a liking lately to having several minutes each game for running off screens while rookie backup Eric Maynor plays the point.

"It just frees me up a little bit," Williams said. "I can come off some screens, and not have to create. You know, in the past it's been me having to create something . . . and it's not really the kind of shot I want to take.

"(Now) I'm getting a lot more shots in rhythm within the offense, which is a lot better."

THROWBACKS: As part of the NBA Hardwood Classics Nights program, the Jazz on Friday will wear for the first time this season throwback uniforms that originally debuted during the 1979-80 season — the franchise's first in Utah, when Tom Nissalke was head coach and Adrian Dantley topped Pistol Pete Maravich for team-high scoring honors.

The green jerseys, featuring the franchise's original music note logo in yellow and white trim, were worn during the 1980s as an alternate road uniform. Matching shorts feature the secondary music note logo, also in yellow with white trim.