JAZZSPIN

Utah took a 3-1 series lead over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night with a narrow 4 point victory. The series shifts back to Houston for game 5 on Tuesday, game time and TV schedule is TBD at the moment as it will depend on the outcome of Sunday’s NBA Playoff games.

MVP of Game 4: Deron Williams

Deron carried the Jazz to victory with a key stretch late in the game. With 2:36 remaining, D-Will blew by the Rockets defense for an emphatic dunk. On the next possession, he owned the Rockets again with a driving lay-up off the glass to put Utah up 82-73 with 2:04 left in the game. Deron did miss 2 crucial free throws but was bailed out by the offensive rebound by Memo.

MVP of Game 4 (Part 2): Carl Landry

Carl Landry had another unbelievable game in Salt Lake City (13 points, 6 boards). In a losing effort, he was the reason that the Rockets even had a shot. Although the stat line wasn’t that impressive, Carl brought the hustle and attitude to the Houston team that allowed them to have a shot in the hostile environment.

Carl Landry == Paul Millsap

Speaking of Carl Landry, is he not a clone of Paul Millsap? If these two switched jerseys, you might not even know it, they are basically the same player (Landry 6′7″, 245 lbs., Millsap 6′8″, 254 lbs.). Landry (24) is actually older the Millsap (23) although Millsap has one more year of NBA service. Both guys bring nothing but energy and hard-work while being ideal role-players. No doubt, Landry can flat-out bring it.

0 for 14

The Jazz were shutout from long distance in Game 4. Utah had so many opportunities to really take control of this game had just one of many threes dropped. The house was just waiting to explode, but Korver and others were unable to connect even once. The surprise here is that it happened at home where the Jazz had the best home 3pt shooting percentage in the league this year.

The Home Crowd

The “Over-rated” chant for T-Mac was well time as he missed yet another key free throw. Something has been missing from the crowd in these 2 home games though and I can’t seem to put my finger on it. Perhaps the Jazz just haven’t made the run that everyone has been waiting for? Perhaps it is a function of the Rockets defense that limits the exciting play and Jazz tempo? That being said, the ESA crowd is different than any crowd in the NBA. When Battier was in bounding the ball late in the game, it looked as if he was actually in the second row!

Annoying Lady

As good as the ESA crowd was, there is one ridiculously ANNOYING screaming female “fan.” I am not sure if you could hear here on the ESPN broadcast, but she had her mark all over the KJZZ audio (she must sit near Boler and Booner). This is not the first game that I have noticed her and its probably not going to be the last. If I was sitting near her, I don’t think I could be held responsible for my actions… and I am a Jazz fan, I can’t imagine how annoying she is to the Rockets.

Houston D

You have to give credit to the Houston defense. They have shut down the inefficient Jazz offense and held them to 43% from the field and only 16 assists. They are controlling the tempo of the game, drastically slowing down the Jazz offense that thrives when the ball is pushed up court. Landry, Scola and Battier do a great job of limiting where the Jazz are able to get the ball.

Where is Booz?

Boozer has had a unbelievably tough series so far. His shot has been off and he hasn’t been aggressive enough when going to the hoop. He finally hit a key high-arching jumper in the 4th despite a 3 for 13 night. He redeemed himself for game 3 by going 8 of 8 from the line and did grab 14 boards. There is something about Booz that causes him to struggle mightily against certain opponents (they usually block a shot or two of his early and its downhill from there). Boozer has been playing better than his reputation on the defensive side of the ball.

T-Mac Doesn’t Know D-Will’s Name?

T-Mac asked the media how you say it: Der-on or Da-ron? I remember during the Finals against the Bulls, Michael Jordan saying he didn’t know Bryon Russell’s name (highly doubtful). The difference, Jordan did not use this psychological warfare when he was down 3-1 in the series while shooting 38% and missing key free throws. Way to give Deron just another reason to dominate in Game 5!

More T-Mac…

As a Jazz fan, I am happy every time I see him take a jumper of more than 10 feet. He is much more effective when he drives to the hole, usually resulting in free throws, layup or pass to an easy bucket. I liken his shooting to that of Iverson, Carmelo or even Korver… his shot looks so good when it goes down that it seams like he can’t miss, until you look at the box score after the game and see that he was 9 for 25 (and probably something like 4 for 18 from outside of 10 feet, but man did those 4 look good). When ever T-mac does make an outside jumper or two in this series, he immediately goes for a ill-advised heat-check that is rarely even close. I fear the outside shot of Alston and Battier far more the T-Mac.

Plays of the Game

D-Will’s driving dunk with 2:36 was at the top of the list. With his finish, Deron got the crowd going and put his mark on the game. Following the dunk, with the crowd going crazy, AK blocked a T-Mac jumper leading to another driving layup for Deron. That sequence probably won the game for the Jazz.

Other plays of note: Two alley-oops from Deron to AK on fast breaks, a fabulously great, high bounce pass ahead of the defense for a Kyle Korver layup, Brewer’s incredible baseline jack-knife layup (fouled, missed ft).

Up 8 with 60 Seconds Left

A couple of clutch 3’s by Battier and Alson (not T-Mac) followed by a Landry put-back (possible goal-tending) gave the Rockets a shot to win. The Jazz had a couple of poor possessions but escaped with a little bit of luck (Battier foul on Korver that was slightly debatable, Memo rebound).

ESPN Thoughts

I watched the game on KJZZ. Actually, I have realized that when the game is on ESPN nationally, I watch the local KJZZ broadcast. When the game is on TNT nationally, I mainly watch TNT. I think I dislike ESPN games due to the poor production value (just not a fan of the music, graphics, etc.), poor announcing, too much talk of other series and the superstar emphasis.

Also of note, despite being the closest and best game of the night, Sunday morning SportsCenter didn’t show the Jazz-Rockets highlights until 25 minutes in (preceded by Lakers-Nuggets, NFL draft, 4 MLB games (NYY and BOS highlights of coarse), Boston-Atlanta, Toronto-Magic, Hockey, Nascar).

Closing Thoughts

The Jazz are now 30-0 when holding their opponents under 93 points. Brewer had a great game offensively and guarding T-Mac. There were some bad calls on both sides of the ball. Despite the win, the game did not leave a good taste in my mouth, the Rockets D is really giving the Jazz O some trouble.

(Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)