SALT LAKE CITY -- Other players around the NBA wear mouthpieces like they're just another part of their uniform.
DeMarre Carroll wasn't one of them, but after getting popped in the mouth and nearly losing a tooth over the weekend the Utah Jazz forward is OK with the extra protection.
"I'm going to continue to wear one because I don't want to get my teeth knocked out," he said. "I guess the way I play I'm gonna get hit a lot."
Carroll, who signed with the Jazz as a free agent in February after being cut by the Denver Nuggets, started Monday's game against the Dallas Mavericks.
Because he was diagnosed with a mild concussion after getting elbowed in the mouth during Utah's loss to Memphis last Saturday, he was listed as "day-to-day."
However, Carroll went through a series of tests and given clearance to play.
Not only did he play against the Mavericks, he started and scored 15 points, including 11 on 4-for-4 shooting in the third quarter.
GAME 62 Jazz 123, Mavericks 121 (3OT)
* BEST PLAY: With 2.2 left in regulation, Paul Millsap slips past Dirk Nowitzki and follows Gordon Hayward's miss with a violent, rim-rattling dunk. The play ties the game at 89-all and sends the game into overtime.
* BEST LINE: Al Jefferson finished with 28 points and a career-high 26 rebounds.
* KEY STAT: The Jazz outrebounded the Mavericks 53-41.
* SIDELINE MOMENT: With 3:40 left before halftime, Dallas' Delonte West fouled Gordon Hayward on a fastbreak. Seconds later he stuck his finger in Hayward's ear and was whistled for a technical foul. While referees watched a replay of the incident, the ESA crowd began chanting "Throw him out!" Dallas' Jason Terry waved his arms up and down to taunt the crowd.
Oddly enough, West was not thrown out.
* INJURY REPORT: Jazz PG Earl Watson is scheduled to have surgery on his right knee today in New York. The surgery will be performed by Dr. David Altcheck, the same doctor who performed Josh Howard's surgery. ... Howard (left knee) said he is improving and hopes to play before the end of the regular season. ... Howard and Raja Bell (left knee) worked out after Monday morning's shootaround. ... C.J. Miles (left gastroc muscle strain) did not play. ... Carroll and Jeremy Evans (right ankle sprain) were listed as game-time decisions, but both played. ... For the Mavericks, Rodrique Beaubois (right calf) did not play.
* ETC.: Monday was the Jazz's sixth overtime game this season. The franchise record is eight set during the 2005-06 season. ... The Mavericks lost in overtime Sunday against the Lakers. ... Hayward and Jefferson played 54 minutes apiece for the Jazz. ... Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 20 points in the first half. He went 6-for-9 from the field. No other Dallas player was in double figures. ... Devin Harris led the Jazz with 11 points at the break. ... Jefferson had eight points and 10 rebounds. ... The Jazz shot 67 percent from the field in the third quarter and increased their lead to 11 points.
* UP NEXT: The Jazz play at Portland on Wednesday then return to play host to Orlando on Saturday.
Comments