In a recession, everyone suffers with money problems.
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This might as well be a copy-and-paste from the Rockets game. Double-double for Deron (17 & 16) and ‘Sap (24 & 15), and not much else. Two others hit double-digits last night… Korver with 15 and Tonya Harding (read this) had 11. The Koof had 7 points on 3-9 shooting, Fesenko got time (where was he against Houston?) and 2 points… and a slap of LBJ (“The King” if you ask the NBA). King Jackass, if you ask me. I second what clarkpojo said in the game thread at SLC Dunk…

Before this season, I really really liked him. He had a certain humility to him, actually. But his ego has been huge this season. I started getting super bothered when he wouldn’t admit that he travelled against the Hornets and called the “crab dribble”, a move that has been around for about 50 years, his move. He is trying to be a little too big now.

Nails it on the head… and shows what’s wrong with the NBA… because the NBA is letting him get away with it all.

Okur struggled again… going 1-9 from the field and 0-4 from long range. I don’t know what’s up with him, but we need the Okur that went off for 43 points back. And now.

Other Notes
The second unit really kept the team in the game… Sideshow Bob had 5 fouls, and was killing the Jazz early, but when push came to shove, the Jazz stopped attacking the middle (3 FTs in the 2nd half) and settled for jumpers. At some point, don’t you have to attack the middle? Of course, I guess getting very few calls in your favor early (when they attacked, or when James charged over them) kinda limits your desire to attack. Plus you have ‘Sap, who rarely gets a call when he’s hammered… The Cavs were 10-27 from downtown. Um, defense?… Why no Ronnie Price? For all the awesomeness earlier, Brevin Knight has really been struggling of late.

The Jazz have another game tonight (in Denver). A home/road back-to-back, with airplane problems keeping them in SLC longer than expected. If you were someone who thought the Jazz should trade for Michael Redd, it’s not happening this year. Really unfortunate for the Bucks.

Well, that game went as expected. The Jazz, shorthanded due to the absence of 3 key players (and the absence of a player that isn’t all that good), struggled early and suffered yet another loss. They finish the Eastern Conference road-swing (part I of III) with a 1-4 record, resulting in more talk about how the Jazz can’t win on the road (save for the Clippers game earlier this season). And for the most part, it seems true. Of course, they didn’t have their full team for any of the games, but still, you have to win with what you have. Other teams do it. Oh, and all the blah about how the Jazz have a deep bench… that has to stop. Because, while the first couple of guys off are solid (save for the game last night), the rest of the bench is on the bench for a reason.

The Jazz fell behind early, and fell behind big. Luckily, the Jazz went on a mini-run to end the quarter (aided by a buzzer-beating 3 pointer by Ronnie Price), and then started the 2nd quarter on fire, carrying the momentum and going into the locker room with a lead. The Cavs woke up after that though, and took over, winning by double digits when all was said and done.

Player Notes Below