Utah Jazz: Rookie Wesley Matthews helps play some defense

When the Jazz suddenly went ice cold from the field during the second half of their home game against Indiana on Friday, the solution — at least in rookie guard Wesley Matthew's mind — was obvious.

"If you're not making baskets," said Matthews, "you gotta make sure they don't."

That's precisely the mantra Matthews and his Jazz teammates adopted, and it allowed the club to make sure it emerged with its fourth home victory in a row.

With Matthews leading the charge defensively, Utah held Indiana to just two points over a key five-minute stretch midway through the fourth quarter, and the Jazz made enough plays offensively from there to emerge with a 96-87 win.

"Your offense might not come to you every night, (but) you can definitely pack your D and your heart," said Matthews.

After shooting lights out from the field in three consecutive home wins over Chicago, Portland and Memphis, Utah started out hot from the field again against Indiana and opened a 22-3 lead early on.

The Jazz cooled off considerably after that, however, and Indiana eventually pulled within four points, 82-78, with 8:36 left in the game, as Danny Granger and Brandon Rush drained back-to-back three-pointers for the Pacers.

At the other end, the Jazz were quite simply missing open looks — lots of them.

To avoid what would've been a hugely disappointing loss, however, Utah ratcheted up the pressure defensively.

After Rush's three, the Jazz held Indiana to only two points over the next 5:06 to make sure they didn't lose.

"We kept our composure, which is what was key," said Matthews. "You see a lot of teams that lose 15-20 points just because their composure gets a little out of whack. But we kept ours, made stops we needed to and made plays on offense that we needed to."

Matthews, in particular, was key defensively. After scoring 16 of his career-high 18 points in the first half, the rookie largely kept Granger under wraps in the second half and was consistently active at the defensive end of the floor.

Granger finished with 26 points — near his average — but Matthews never let him really get going.

"I think I did all right," said Matthews when asked to assess the defensive job he did on Granger. "It's no stopping a player like that. He's averaging 25 a game, all-star in this league, all-NBA. The sky's the limit for him. He's very, very talented, and a very gifted scorer.

"But my teammates helped me. No one person stops him. You don't stop him, you try to make him shoot the most difficult shots."

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, for one, noticed what Matthews did in that regard.

"He's not afraid, he's not afraid to get up and make plays," said Sloan. "He'll stick his nose in, he'll stick his chest in and try to guard guys. That's the way you're supposed to play. (You're not supposed) to drop off guys and let them come off screens and take shots and then holler, 'Help.' You gotta help yourself first in life before you start hollering for help.

"I thought Wes Matthews tried hard to get up and guard. He was in there battling every possession."

e-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com