EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Sad the season has come to an end. Lots of games too look back on where one play here or there feels like prevented us from continuing on to the playoffs. I am sure if we looked at some of comebacks they equaled each other out and the reality is we are who we are.

• That was abundantly clear tonight and even back at the OKC game. We were a playoff contender and Memphis and OKC are title contenders and that is a completely different level. One that we were unable to handle or combat.

• Memphis went full throttle tonight. They have won 14 of their last 15 at home, they are the #1 defensive team over the last 10 games and the #2 defensive team for the entire season. Whenever we have played the top level defensive teams we have been unable to overcome their defensive presence.

• The effort was strong tonight. The defense was really good for most of the game. The Grizzlies stretched it to 7 at the end of the 1st half but the Jazz answered on a 7-2 run to get back in the game. The lack of offense in the 3rd quarter became more than the Jazz could over come.

• The Jazz got their first fast break point with 7:00 left in the 4th quarter – 4th quarter. It is way too hard to score in the half court on every possession in this league and that is what the Jazz tried to do against a great defensive team.

• At the end of 3 quarters Al Jefferson was 6 of 12 and the rest of the team was 14 of 49. No one other than Al could get it going. Partially , because with Gasol they didn’t need to double team a great deal.

• Al Jefferson had 22 points, 16 rebounds. Over the final 12 games of the season he averaged 22 pts a game shot 52% and grabbed nearly 10 rebounds a game. Al was as invested in the well being of this team and this organization at the highest level.

• The Jazz just missed a ton of shots at the rim. One of the tenant to this team offensively is offensive rebounding but it the first quarter the Jazz got 2 second chance points on 4 chances, then in the 2nd quarter they only got 2 on 6 chances and in the third quarter 0 on 3 chances.

• At the end of 3 quarter we had 0 fast break points and only 4 second chance points on 13 chances. We are not going to win many of those games.

• Even during the dreadful shooting of the 3rd quarter 4 of 18 the Jazz held the Grizzlies to 8 of 21 shooting. The game had 15 fouls in the 3rd quarter.

• The Jazz bench never got going once Gordon Hayward went back in the starting line-up. Favors 2/9 – Marvin 2/7 and Burks 3/6

• Favors night is the perfect way to end the season – He is super defensively, his defensive rebounding is tremendously improved, he grabbed 11 rebounds, he has added passing with 3 assist, 3 steals and 2 blocks but he was 2 of 9 and his offensive weaknesses are still prohibiting him.

• Missed free throws early altered the game – always playing from behind took it tool.

• I have no idea what happened to Paul Millsap to close the season. He shot 19 of his last 48 and averaged 7 pts per game.

• It is going to be an interesting off-season. Will we be adding talent, will we clear the deck for younger players, are the younger players ready and good enough to do that, will we take a step back to keep flexibility and clear the deck, will we add a marquee piece, what about Al, Paul, Randy, Mo, DeMarre, Earl and Jamaal.

• It was a pleasure to spend a season with this team. I feel very fortunate to be your conduit to Jazz basketball. Thanks for your passion and dedication.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• 82 that matter. We are so fortunate as a franchise that this doesn’t seem like a big deal but every year usually 14 of the 30 franchise don’t play 82 that matter. This year only 17 of 30 play 82 that matter and we are in that group. In fact, we have been in that group every year but 1 or 2 since the 80’s. It is an incredible run.

• The early success of our franchise with two of the greatest players to ever play the game, Stockton and Malone, may make it so we don’t realize how fortunate we really are and really why should we you only know what you have experienced. Let me try to put this in perspective. The Wolves tonight were looking for their first winning home record since 05-06. That is just a home winning record.

• For everyone who wanted the Jazz to go to the bottom and follow the “OKC model” if you aren’t careful you end up with a dramatically different model. Golden State is playing in their 2nd playoffs in 18 seasons. Sacramento is still at the bottom, Phoenix isn’t coming out of this anytime soon and how about Charlotte, Washington, Detroit, etc.

• The most interesting comparison to me is the Timberwolves trading Kevin Garnett and the Jazz trading Deron Williams. In 2007 the Timberwolves traded their best player and since then have won 22,24,15,17,26 and 30 games. On the other hand, the Jazz traded Deron and while getting some young players similar to the Wolves for Garnett they have maintained a competitive team and won 53% of their games the last two years. The Wolves fan base has left them. They are disengaged with their team and they have no culture as a franchise. The Jazz are the complete opposite.

• Big Al Jefferson did it again. He is carrying this team. The last 10 games prior to tonight he was shooting 58% and averaging 21 pts a game and tonight he followed the suit 8 of 15 from the field and scored 22 points. In the few moments when the game was trending away from the Jazz Jefferson took over and stretched the game back out every time the Jazz needed it.

• Jazz started the night on a 16-2 run and never relinquished the lead. The Jazz played harder than the Wolves and with a sense of purpose.

• Impressive to me that each time the Jazz lost their rhythm offensively they maintained the defensive focus and held onto the control of the game.

• Few other notes – liked Paul’s 8 rebounds, Hayward 6 rebounds. Mo’s 4 steals and 7 assists. Favs had a solid 12 points and 6 rebounds after foul trouble, but he has to learn how to stay in games. Marvin played hard and was active.

• Randy Foye has 8 straight games with multiple three’s – second longest streak in the nba.

• This was another dark day in the new world we live. Our thoughts go out to all the people in Boston and those impacted by today’s events. Evil has the ability to show its ugliest side with much great ease in our world, however every time it does we show it how united we are, how courageous we are and the true power of the positive human spirit. Evil can’t keep us down and you never will.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Special night by Al Jefferson. The first player in the NBA this season to have 40 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. He finished the night with 40 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists. He had 29 points in the 2nd half.

• Al just picked the team up and carried them to the victory. It was reminiscent of the performance Al put out against Dallas last year when he had 28 points and 26 rebounds only it was some how better. It was the best performance of Al’s career.

• The Wolves battled tonight and the Jazz never got the defense they needed to run away with the game.

• The Jazz started well, lead 30-22 but JJ Barea got crazy hot on the pick and roll and got inside the lane and torched the Jazz with the first 10 points of the 2nd quarter and coupled with a 12 to 2 run the Wolves lead by 1 at the half 54-53.

• Then Jefferson took over. 19 points in the 3rd quarter and another 10 in the 4th quarter. Jefferson was 5 of 8 in the 4t quarter and 2 major assists.

• The Jefferson assists in the 4th quarter were to Burks and Foye both for 3 so Jefferson was directly related to 16 of the 25 Jazz 4th quarter points and 6 of the other 9 came on Mo Williams free throws. Foye had a 3 at the 6:07 mark other than that Al either scored or assists on 23 of the Jazz 26 points from the 1:10 mark of the 3rd to the :20 mark of the 4th quarter.

• Randy Foye guarded JJ Barea and slowed him down.

• Paul Millsap played 5:21 in the 2nd half .

• Alec Burks came back into the rotation did a nice job tonight playing both the 1 and the 2. He hit some big shots and played well. Nice to have him back.

• Jazz hustled tonight and stopped a lot of transition plays with deflections but the half court defense was problematic. The Wolves are 25th in offense and they shot 46% and hit 8 three’s. Luckily, the Wolves went cold late in the game and the Jazz were able to overcome the Wolves.

• Spent some time before the game with Hot Rod’s wife. She was in town but Hot Rod was in Arizona. He is doing well. Enjoying travel but at times feels the effects of old age.

• Strange to see the Jazz players walk out the tunnel and wonder who will be back.

• Hopefully, they will be back for Game 3 of the playoffs.

• Thanks Big Al that was awesome.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Jazz are just the 4th team to hold the Thunder under 90 points, just the 4th team to hold the Thunder under 40% shooting and the Thunder still find a way to win. That is the sign of a super elite team. The Thunder are the Western Conference Champs and on their way to a second straight finals in all likelihood and one of the main reasons is their ability to win games in numerous different fashions.

• Watching the Thunder what jumped out at me most is how comfortable they are together. They know each other and trust each other. For the last 5 years they have had almost no injuries and since Perkins joined the team they have had the same starting five playing together. Those 5 have played 1,200 minutes together this year and they have probably played over 4,000 total and done it in every circumstance imaginable. They aren’t going to get flustered or troubled when things aren’t going the way they want and they just keep focused at the task. Very impressive.

• The Jazz didn’t allow the Thunder to score on back to back possessions in the third quarter. Not sure they ever got the three stops in a row but this is the #2 offensive team in the NBA.

• Jazz missed Kanter tonight. When the Thunder went small and Millsap was defended by Durant Millsap couldn’t beat Durant for anything offensively and if Kanter was available the Thunder may not have been able to go to their small line-up.

• Kanter’s absence has allowed Favors to prosper he played 30 minutes tonight had 8 points, 8 rebounds to go with 5 block shots. He is terrific on defense. However, the burden on Millsap and Jefferson may be wearing them down a big. Millsap went 37 minutes tonight and he has no lift at all. He was 4 of 11 shooting had 8 points and 6 rebounds but also had 5 turnovers. He had his 2 steals and he battled but he just doesn’t have any bounce.

• Hayward had a strong third quarter scoring 10 points, grabbing 3 rebounds and getting 2 assists but his first half was 1 for 6 and he really seemed to settle compared to how hard he went to the basket in the 3rd quarter. He finished with 17.

• The Jazz just couldn’t get in the paint and the Thunder defense had 8 to 9 feet in the paint at one time with regularity . Jazz hit just 7 of 25. The Thunder are the defensive model for the future they are so long. With Thabo, Durant, Ibaka and Perkins they can close on anything.

• Ibaka is really greatly improved.

• If I was a Thunder fan I would be very concerned about Kevin Martin when the game gets physical he wilts.

• I can’t ask for much more from this group than what they gave tonight. They really battled. The game was insanely physical. There were very few rebounds that were grabbed cleaning, everyone was being grabbed and held and bumped and scratched it was bedlam

• This was not playoff basketball because playoff basketball is a completely different breed but this was as much as any regular season game can feel like a playoff game. Every possession was battled for and every play was contested. The guys fought hard and stayed in the game.

• The thing I am most pleased with is when things got super tough in the 3rd quarter and the Jazz feel down by 14 they didn’t wilt. They stayed in the game and kept battling back and stayed in striking distance. Against Denver it was at that point they seemed a bit overwhelmed and started to make mistakes they hadn’t make all game long. Tonight they stay engaged in the game all evening.

• See you Friday. Need the next three.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• This is great !!! How much fun are you having now.

• This game had most of the things we have been asking for from the Jazz this season all wrapped into one 48 minutes performance. They battled, they made huge defensive stops, they were cold blooded with big plays, they dove on the floor, they stayed focus when adversity struck, they had smart possessions, they were terrific out of timeouts and they won on the road against an above .500 team.

• Win tonight over the Warriors was our first and only other win against a team that was above .500 since the Jazz beat Brooklyn on the Xmas road trip.

• Where do I start.

• Favors block on the Curry drive was the defensive play of the year. He was out on the floor near the half court line on the pick and roll coverage and found a way to get all the way back to the basket to block the shot. Offensive defensive substitution allowed that to happen. Moreover, Mark Jackson had brought Draymond Green in the game for Bogut and I believe this may have been to force Al Jefferson into pick and roll coverage and when Corbin went to Favors it blew up the play.

• Jazz took 25 three’s tonight and have now taken 20 or more three’s in three straight games. It is a safe bet that is the first time in franchise history. The Jazz should shot a lot of three’s with Hayward, Foye and Mo all over 40% from three they should be bombing those shots it counts 50% more last time I checked.

• Mo Williams was absurd. Everyone is talking about the three to clinch it which was definitely a no no no yes shot. I thought an equally big play was out of a timeout with 5:56 left the Warriors had cut it to 6 and Mo came into the game out of the timeout and immediately came off a Favors pick and hit a pull up jumper from the top of the key to make it an 8 point game.

• Some interesting coaching moves in this game. Mark Jackson opened the second half with Kyle Thompson on Mo Williams and Steph guarding Randy Foye. Mo had 12 first half points and the Warriors couldn’t guard him. Corbin decided not to cross match and Jackson went to Kyle Thompson every possession with Mo Williams guarding him. On one level it worked. Thompson got some good looks and was beating Mo badly however, Steph Curry went 1 for 3 in the third quarter and never seemed to get his rhythm back shooting just 2 of 8 in the second half. I will take any half where Thompson takes 10 shots to Curry’s 8.

• Corbin did a lot of adjusting tonight. The Warriors stymied the Jazz offense in the 2nd half. Jefferson couldn’t get looks on Bogut in the post (4 of 9 in 2nd half) Millsap couldn’t get anything going on David Lee and Kyle Thompson had Mo Williams. The Jazz transformed out of the post heavy offense and into a pick and roll based offense to get looks and try to re-invigorate the offense,

• Gordon Hayward is getting tougher every game. He drew another foul tonight. Hayward went out of his way on our post game show to talk about how much he is helped by Favors defensively. Future is bright.

• Randy Foye deserves a lot of credit for his defense on Steph Curry. When Jackson made the switch Corbin figured it worked ok for the Jazz on the other end.. Also Hayward and DeMarre Carroll spent time on Curry. When Warriors go to Jack as a point guard it means a bigger player can play Curry.

• The Paul Millsap struggles against Golden State are not new. He 25 of his last 62 against the Warriors. Though in the midst of his struggles he dove on the floor for a loose ball on one of the key plays of the game.

• I would buy season tickets to watch Steph Curry.

• Jazz Road 4th quarter defense has been last in the NBA. Tonight the Warriors shot 9 of 22 only 2 three pointers and only 1 freee throw. That is great 4th quarter road defense.

• Felt like Jazz were very good out of timeouts tonight.

• Jazz are the #1 offensive team in the NBA the last 5 games and the #1 assist to turnover team – 1st quarter tonight 9 assists on 11 field goals, ball movement was better in the 2nd quarter and Jazz had 10 assists on 14 field goals and even when the offense bogged down in the third quarter the Jazz had 6 assists on 7 field goals.

• Jamaal Tinsley was very good again tonight – 15 minutes with no turnovers. He also handled Curry ok in the open floor a few times, plus hit some monster three point shots. He is a solid 15 minute a night back up.

• Jazz didn’t shot a free throw in the 1st half.

• Third quarter Big Al really grinded – he had 9 points and 3 assists when we only scored 21 points. This is at least 15 of the 21 points in the quarter. His third quarter line was 9 pts, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

• Gordon Hayward had 2 huge offensive rebounds in the 4th quarter – This kid is obsessed with winning.

• The story of the night is the Jazz handling every run the Warriors made at the Jazz. The Warriors would look like they were in control and would have the crowd roaring the Jazz would make a play that stymied the run. It happened all night. Warriors would get it to 4 and the Jazz would take it right back to 8. From the time the Jazz went on a 27-11 run over most of the 2nd quarter the Warriors never led again. The Warriors last lead 42-41 and the Jazz never relinquished it.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• If the Jazz lost tonight to Miami the way this game went you would walk out and say dang Miami is good. Since Jan 1st Denver is 1 game off Miami’s pace and Miami won 8 million in a row. Think about that. Denver is really really good right now.

• The loss is a big deal, the Jazz don’t have many more losses in their bank until they are bankrupt. One maybe two if they want to make the playoffs.

• As the game went on things the Jazz did well earlier in the game started to waver near the end which tells me the Nuggets relentlessness was more than the Jazz could handle.

• The Jazz starting guards were 4 for 21 from the field and 2 of 11 from three. No way you can win this game when you get that kind of shooting out of Mo and Randy.

• Faried went 4 for 4 in outplaying Millsap this year. Faried never stops and he moves terrifically without the ball. He is such a smart player. He sees the plays before they happen and that allows him to get to the open spot for his offensive action.

• The Jazz allowed way too many blow bys defensively on the wings tonight.

• Jamaal Tinsley couldn’t guard Evan Fournier and was too small and that forced the Jazz to play without Tinsley who has been helpful to the Jazz recently.

• Denver was without Ty Lawson but they have so many different guys who can handle the ball and initiate the offense that being without Lawson is not being without a point guard it is just being without a scorer and they have enough balance to handle it.

• I really like Evan Fournier. He is going to be a nice player in this league.

• Hayward got in foul trouble in the first half with the Jazz trailing by 3 and then the Nuggets stretched it to 7 in the 2nd quarter but the Nuggets blew the Jazz out in the start of the 3rd quarter.

• Jazz opened the third missing 6 straight shots, Millsap missed from 20, Hayward missed a 3, Mo missed a layup, Hayward missed a 17 footer, Foye missed a 3 and by that time Jazz were down by 13 and Al Jefferson had not taken a shot in the third quarter – He took his first shot at the 7:11 mark of the 3rd quarter and it was also the Jazz first field goal.

• That is a stretch where we forgot who we are as a team.

• Denver is really good, they could beat OKC or SA in the 2nd round. The numbers guys were not crazy when they picked Denver to be best in the 1st West.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Jazz win their 5th in a row. This is the first time the Jazz have won 5 in a row by 9 or more since Feb 2007 and prior to that was in 1999. The jazz are only the 102nd team in NBA history to win 5 straight by 9 or more and they are the 11th Jazz team to do. Not bad the Jazz have more 10% of those streaks.

• This game had all sorts of numerical oddities. Mo Williams had 6 three’s in the game combined with Randy Foye it is the highest combined three point total of two players in Jazz history.

• The Blazers 58.2% shooting was the highest shooting percentage by an opponent in a loss since at least 1985. Couple that with 56.5% three point shooting and this has to be one of the highest EFG% ever in a loss. Maybe league wide. Tonight the Blazers EFG% was 67.9%

• Blazers are only the 16th team since 1985 to lose a game shooting 58% from the field and 56% from three – 4th since 1997

• The Jazz 6 turnovers is a season low and the 26 turnovers in the last three games is by far the lowest three game stretch of the season.

• Jamaal Tinsley has played over 60 minutes and committed 1 turnover. That is a huge change for this team. The turnovers were killing the Jazz and the second unit. It is easy to over look but 3 or 4 more turnovers a night are possessions where you get no shot and the other team is likely on some sort of a run out.

• Mo Williams has found his grove and more importantly the team has found their grove around him. Mo is not flawless. His defense on Lillard needed a little more early, his shoot first mentality is not always easy to swallow. However, he is the engine for this team and when he came back he was not right and that is the reality of returning from an injury. He was off, the team was off adjusting to him and figuring out how to play with him and now he seems to be flowing better and the team has managed a way to play with him. Jefferson is still getting enough looks in the post to make the offense work, the ball is flying around and moving from guy to guy and players are getting better and better looks. The offensive numbers with the starting line-up are crazy good.

• Gordon Hayward is becoming tougher every game. His defense has been very good the last few nights and more importantly he is getting under the opponents skin with his style of play.

• Jefferson has scored 20+ in three straight after being under 20 in 10 straight the longest run of his career as a starter.

• Solid win – not much more to be said. Jump on them early 7-0 then added a 13-2 run to have a 14 point lead in the 1st quarter, they answered every run the Blazers made and were never in trouble.

• It is what you should do and need to do to an non playoff team without its best player.

• Jazz hold the third longest win streak at home against under .500 teams.

• Big one Wednesday.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Randy Foye happened. Foye tied a Jazz record for 8 three’s in a game, he set the Jazz record for 7 three’s in a half and he tied the Jazz record for 5 three’s in a quarter.

• Solid win by the Jazz. Jazz took the lead 64-63 in the 3rd and then Foye went bananas. Jazz went on a 12-1 run and impressively never let the Nets get back in the game.

• Corbin went to a tight 8 man rotation in the second half. It is that time of year where there is not wiggle room and Corbin is narrowing things down.

• The Jazz ball movement was terrific tonight and it showed in 9 assists by Paul Millsap, a career high. The Jazz assists leaders were Millsap and Hayward tonight.

• A lot of the game tonight had Hayward and Deron going at each other. Interestingly enough neither of them could score on each other. Both Deron and Hayward have much better defensive games than they are recognized for by outsiders.

• Deron Williams looked much better than he did earlier this year. Nice to see him back having the bounce to his game.

• Third straight game for Big Al with 20 points. The Nets tried to double him and the Jazz took advantage with ball movement out to Foye for the three barrage.

• Marvin Williams made two miracle shots that put the Nets away but the key to his game was he was moving without the ball and the jazz kept finding him around the rim. Player movement is as important as ball movement, without the player movement there is no where for the ball to go.

• Jamaal Tinsley looks like he did earlier this year and that is a good thing. He got worn down when he was starting and had to play 30 minutes a night. He seems to have gotten his body back. He makes passes that no one else makes and is able to create opportunity for his teammates.

• My favorite play of the night was Favors screened out Evans great and the Jazz got the rebound, Tinsley lead the break but nothing materialized right away, the Jazz ran through correctly and Tinsley allowed the early offense to start and the Jazz found Favors back at the rim for a dunk. That is perfect basketball.

• 14 steals by the Jazz – Hayward had one of his best defensive games I have seen out of him . Hayward always does a nice job on the ball and did that tonight as well but his help and team defense was elite level and was sharp and smart.

• 4 in a row. 3 huge ones this week join us at Energy Solutions Arena. Need to get these three at home this week.