SLIDESHOW: Utah Jazz vs Memphis Grizzlies
SALT LAKE CITY -- OK, just what's going on here?
It seems the Utah Jazz are defying logic.
Down to just nine available players -- and not all of them at full strength -- the Jazz put on their best show of the season Monday, ripping the Memphis Grizzlies 120-93 at EnergySolutions Arena.
Turning out its highest point total of the season, Utah (10-7) won its third consecutive game and seventh out of 10.
The Jazz are now three games above .500 for the first time all season.
"It feels good. It's a happy locker room," rookie guard Wesley Matthews said. "Everybody's excited, everybody's playing the way we're capable of, and we're still short-handed."
Red-hot Carlos Boozer went over the 20-point barrier for the fifth consecutive game, scoring 24 points to go along with 15 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a blocked shot.
Teammate Ronnie Brewer notched a game-high 25 points -- just one off his career high -- and had three of Utah's 14 steals on the night.
The Jazz shot 71 percent from the field in the first quarter, then simply outran the Grizzlies (6-12) who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back.
It was Utah's 10th consecutive double-digit victory over the Grizzlies.
"We ran into another team (on a back-to-back), obviously it looked like their energy level wasn't as high as you'd expect it to be," coach Jerry Sloan said. "But we're certainly aware of of how good (the Grizzlies) can be. They've got a nice, young team."
Monday was the fourth in a five-game road trip for the Grizzlies, who knocked off Portland last Friday.
They got a team-high 20 points from guard O.J. Mayo and another 17 from rookie Sam Young, who was filling in for regular starter Rudy Gay (he missed the game to attend a family funeral).
The Grizzlies may have been tired and short-handed, but the Jazz certainly had little sympathy.
They began the game with only nine available players and saw that number dwindle after starting center Mehmet Okur went down with an injury in the second quarter.
Okur did not start the second half, but did return to the court briefly in the second half.
He wound up scoring just five points in 15 minutes of action.
Okur's departure meant even more time for Utah's younger players.
Big man Kyrylo Fesenko played 20 minutes and scored 11 points. Rookie point guard Eric Maynor scored 10, and Matthews added a career-high 17 on 6-for-7 shooting from the field.
Over his last five games, Boozer is averaging 25.2 points and 9.8 rebounds.
"I'm proud of him," Sloan said.
"That's the great thing about basketball," Brewer said. "When one guy goes down, you've got to pull together as a team. As a team, you've got to step up and raise your play and I think a lot of guys did that."
The Jazz also got 22 points and six assists from starting point guard Deron Williams.
Andrei Kirilenko missed Monday's game with a sore lower back. The Jazz also played without the services of C.J. Miles, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Price and Matt Harpring.
Comments