Utah Jazz Blog

Ronnie Brewer and the Utah Jazz finally showed up in an important road game and thrashed the New Orleans Hornets.

The Jazz jumped on the Hornets early with a near-perfect 41 point first quarter. The Jazz scored on 19 of 23 possessions in the quarter and that includes a Memo Okur 40-foot heave at the buzzer (not really a possession).  That may have been the best offensive quarter that Utah has had, home or away, all season long.

The Hornets were able to hang with the Jazz for the first 5 minutes (tie game 12-12) but then New Orleans was outscored 29-7 to close the quarter out as the Jazz got active on defense.

The Jazz lead ballooned to 30 in the second quarter and the Hornets would never get closer than a nine-point deficit near the end of the third quarter.

This has to be the biggest win of the year for the Jazz. Not just because it was their first win over a Western Conference playoff contender, but because the Jazz seemed to be losing confidence.

• Ronnie Brewer was the clear player of the game for the Jazz. Brew started the Jazz off right with three buckets on the first three possessions on his way to 23 points on 11-16 shooting. It is not a surprise that Ronnie had the highest +/- on the team at +16. When Brewer is able to get to the bucket AND hit his jump shot, the Jazz are tough to beat. 
• You gotta love watching Deron Williams and Chris Paul battle.  Statistically, they virtually cancelled each other out. Deron had 21 points on 8-10 FG, 11 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers.  Chris Paul had 19 points on 7-12 shooting, 12 assists, 1 steal and 4 turnovers.  The Jazz are now 11-2 against the Hornets when they play each other.
• Great move by Byron Scott leaving Chris Paul in the game when he picked up his fourth foul with 5:28 left in the third quarter. The Hornets really had no hope if CP3 went to the bench at that point down 20. Instead the Hornets made their run to cut the Jazz lead to 9 near the end of the quarter and Paul didn’t pick up his 5th foul until one minute into the fourth quarter when Brevin Knight stepped in front of him and drew a charge.  I am definitely a fan of leaving guys on the court in that type of situation.
• Andrei Kirilenko started in place of C.J. Miles who dislocated a finger against the Timberwolves on Friday.  AK brought some much needed energy and defensive presence and continued to shoot the ball well from outside. You can’t help but wonder if AK’s move to the starting lineup is a permanent one. 

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