Storm cancels Jazz game
Aw, forget it.
The NBA could not deliver on Wednesday night, postponing the Jazz's Delta Center game against Memphis because the Grizzlies were weather-locked in Portland.
A freak storm has pounded Portland and the Pacific Northwest with snow, ice, strong winds and generally atypical winter weather over the past couple days, initially prompting postponement of the Grizzlies' Tuesday-night visit with the Trail Blazers.
Because Memphis could not fly out of Portland to get to Utah, the Jazz — after going through their usual morning shootaround — learned Wednesday afternoon that they would get the night off.
The date for the rescheduled game probably won't be known until today at the earliest, Jazz spokesman Kim Turner said.
"Obviously," Turner said, "tickets for Wednesday's game will be honored" on the new date. Refunds also will be offered by the Jazz if needed, Turner added.
Officials from Memphis and Utah tried to negotiate a new date Wednesday afternoon, but no agreement could immediately be reached.
"They're working on it," Turner said.
The Grizzlies had proposed playing tonight, but with games Friday night at Denver and Saturday night vs. Atlanta at home, the Jazz would not go for that.
With center Paul Grant waived on Tuesday so his non-guaranteed contract was off the books before Saturday's league deadline for guaranteeing it, and with both forward Matt Harpring (knee) and forward Michael Ruffin (abdominal muscle) not planning to play Wednesday, the Jazz would have had just nine healthy players available against the Grizzlies.
NOTES: This is not the Jazz's first postponed home game. A March 11, 1996, meeting with San Antonio was rescheduled because a new floor at the Delta Center warped and buckled in several places . . . Jazz big man Ben Handlogten, out for the season, undergoes surgery this morning at the University of Utah Medical Center to repair the torn ACL in his left knee . . . No update Wednesday on whether Harpring will need surgery to repair his knee . . . Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said Wednesday there was no update, either, on biopsy results for his wife, Bobbye, a breast cancer survivor who has been battling flu-like symptoms the past several weeks.
E-MAIL: tbuckley@desnews.com
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