EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• YES SIR !!!!!!

• Mentally tough. Fighting. High Five that oozed emotion. Defensive intensity. Clutch offensive plays, electric ball movement. Physical toughness, defense that dictated the game. Everything we have wanted to see from the Utah Jazz in one night in Portland

• According to my ace stats guy Kevin Pelton that was an 18% increase in making the playoffs win for the Jazz.

• Mo Williams took it at Damian Lillard and was terrific late in the game. The Blazers are a bad defensive team and Lillard is really struggling with NBA defense. In the first half the Jazz didn’t take it at Lillard at all but in the 2nd half that changed and made a world of difference in the game. The Jazz became the aggressors.

• Mo had 14 points and 2 assists in the 4th quarter.

• The Jazz fired out in the 3rd quarter and took a 10 point deficit and turned it into a 1 point lead only to have the Blazers hit them with a 10-0 run. The Jazz them finished the night an awe inspiring 25-6 run to win it.

• Tyrone Corbin started Derrick Favors in the second half after the Jazz started the night in the first quarter with miserable defense. The Blazers scored on 7 of their first 10 possessions. In contrast it took 15 possessions for the Blazers to score 7 times in the opening of the third quarter. This is when the Jazz made their run.

• Mo Williams was benched in the second quarter as after Alec Burks struggled against Eric Maynor’s pressue Corbin went to Jamaal Tinsley who sparked a Jazz run in the second quarter until the second quarter on a 12-2 run.

• The end of the 2nd quarter run by the Blazers was like so many we had seen this year. The Jazz tied it at 40 – Marvin Williams made a nice steal and then in transition missed a open three, the Blazers board and Batum hit a three the other way and next thing you know the run had started.

• Burks missed played the clock badly at the end of the first quarter allowing Wesley Matthews to hit a three with the extra time and when the game felt like a one possession game that was looming large.

• Gordon Hayward had a career high 8 assists in the game. My guess is he breaks 10 before the end of the season. 40 minutes for Gordon. Big night for him tomorrow against a physical and active Gerald Wallace.

• Derrick Favors defense in the opening portion of the 3rd quarter was out of this world. He also hit a few jump shots. The coaches have been raving about the work Derrick has been putting in recently and how hard he is working, how much he is improving and his level of detail he taking to the improvement of his game.

• Al torched the rookie Meyers Leonard, Millap had 10 4th quarter points and Mo did the work late. The veterans on the road showed how this team needed to play to make the playoffs. Pretty strong bounce backs from Millsap and Mo who were both basically benched tonight.

• Defense on Wesley Matthews and Nic Batum was very good tonight. They are vital to the Blazers success and neither had a huge impact on the game.

• 62 points in the paint

• Best moment of the night was Al Jefferson giving Paul Millsap a high five at the free throw with a huge amount of ummmphhh to it. It was pure emotion. It showed a level of buy in we have not seen from this team recently.

• The Jazz took control of the game and dictated how it was played on the road in the 4th quarter. THAT IS HUGE.

• See you tomorrow or is it tonight.

Brian Zettler changed out the old road uniforms because they weren’t winning enough. Maybe that was the Magic.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Solid win. Doing what you have to do. Nothing special, nothing amazing but never in doubt.

• Game got to 4 points to open the 4th quarter and the Jazz promptly went on a 10-0 run. That is exactly what they have to do.

• The ball moved very well tonight they had 30 assists.

• For the second time in his career Gordon had a 25-5-5 night this time with 25 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.

• Al Jeffferson got over 20 points for the first time in 10 games. Hayward complimented Jefferson for his ball movement spurring on the other ball movement tonight.

• The Suns are a terrible defensive team so the Jazz needed to do this.

• Randy Foye has his stroke back – he has now hit on 18 of his last 29 from the field

• Derrick Favors has a significant issue going on with turnovers right now – he had 5 tonight but he had a miserable start to the game committing back to back offensive fouls and he recovered into a strong night. Tip of the hat to Coach Corbin for leaving Favors in the game and letting him play through the 2 fouls. Favors was able to get rolling and make solid adjustments to his game making passes, avoiding charges and growing on the spot. On night where he started tough he finished with 9 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Favors played the entire 4th quarter.

• Enes Kanter dislocated his shoulder and will have an MRI tomorrow. It would be a surprise if we saw him again this season. Diving on the floor against another 7 footer and his shoulder got rolled underneath him and was visibly out of socket when he went to the bench.

• Kanter was supposed to have a jump ball and as he was walking out Corbin stopped him because if he left the game he couldn’t return because he was supposed to be in the jump ball however as Corbin yelled to Kanter trainer Gary Briggs pointed to Kanter’s shoulder which was still out of socket and Corbin realized ohh he is not playing anyway.

• Losing Kanter is a big blow. Jazz bigs are going to have to be terrific in the final 10 games. At times recently Kanter was the best of the group and the Jazz had the advantage every night when he was coming off the bench. Jeremy Evans will work for a few match-ups but we are going to see a lot of 30+ min nights for Millsap, Jefferson and Favors. The other option would be to slide Marvin down to the 4 allowing DeMarre Carroll to get back in the line-up. Marvin is playing very well as the 3 off the bench.

• Randy Foye gutted it out nicely tonight when he was seriously under the weather.

• Jazz ran a lot of the offense in Gordon’s hands tonight. Glad he dominated a lesser opponent.

• Huge games Friday and Saturday

• Davar was in the house tonight. Jazz win.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Game was tied at 69-69 and then the Mavericks started a run and we couldn’t stop it. Not to play Dr. Phil but this is where the slump builds upon itself. This team is lacking the confidence to know how to end opponent’s runs. The road losing and the post trade deadline losing has ripped the team of that belief. They make one or two good plays but they can’t get it to propel themselves into a continual streak of solid basketball. Largely this is because we are not a good enough defensive team and these runs have to be stopped largely on the defensive end.

• When we miss on a few offensive possessions the run starts and then we came a bit unglued tonight. We missed 4 straight shots after it was 69-69 and then it was quickly 74-69. We subbed in Favors and Marvin for a better defensive unit. Out of the timeout we ran a perectly executed jumper to Foye and that should be the beginning of quelling the run 74-71 and we are right back in it. But then the two possessions that changed the game more than any others happened Favors missed an easy hook in the middle and Nowitzki answered with a 3 8 point game, Jefferson missed an easy one at the rim and the Mavericks got four chances on the next possession as they ran down 4 loose balls, Jefferson looked like he had lost his legs and the Mavericks put the game to 10 and down 10 on the road heading into the 4th is almost impossible to come back from.

• The run eventually got to 32-10 as the 4th quarter line-up of Tinsley, Hawyard, Marvin, Favors and Kanter never got it going.

• Enes Kanter was very good this evening. The three play sequence on Chris Kaman was awesome. Kaman is a terrible defensive player but the sequence was what matters. He rolled him to the middle with a hook shot. The next time he dropped stepped him to the baseline for a layup and then he pulled up on his on a 12 footer over the top. The ability to have all three of those moves in his repertoire is a great step for his offensive game. He also is showing a nice ability to catch and collect in the lane and make a mid range jumper.

• Mike James at 37 years old lead all scorers with 19 points the last time he had scored 19 in a game as Feb 20 2009. Darren Collison was a defensive pest and caused the offense huge problems in the 2nd quarter getting started as the offense got pushed out to nearly the half court.

• The defensive issue started at the end of the 2nd quarter when the Jazz allowed the Mavericks to score on 6 of the final 8 possessions.

• The Jazz continually are trying to put the ball into Gordon Haywards hand to make plays and move the offense their in his direction but he is not able to do it every night. Some of the match-ups have worked for him but in San Antonio and tonight against Dallas he wasn’t able to as much. However, tonight he had 5 assists and hit some shots so I would have to look back on the film to see if they ran the offense thru him as much as some other nights.

• Since I mentioned it the other night just in fairness tonight Millsap and Jefferson were -6 when on the floor together so they were the least of the issues.

• The Jazz have been much better the last two nights. The offense is moving the ball and the offense is getting great looks. This is the best they have played offensively since Mo returned and the offense has been the problem as much as anything.

• Winning in San Antonio and Dallas are not places you anticipate winning if the Jazz can continue to play like they did the last two nights then you never know. The schedule is very forgiving the rest of the way. It is hard to imagine a team that has won 3 of its last 15 games and lost 9 straight road games is going to suddenly get hot and win 10 of their final 12. The schedule is there for them to do something of that nature and they have played better the last two nights which is a step in the right direction. They need to gain some confidence to who they are and how they are going to handle adversity. Back at it tomorrow Let’s hope this is a start of a remarkable run.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Super game tonight. Well played. Hard fought. Two good teams and lots of huge plays on both sides. Very entertaining game. Too bad the Jazz didn’t pull it off, would have been an unreal win if the Jazz had been able to accomplish that.

• Jazz made some considerable changes in their offense tonight and went to high a ton of high pick and roll to open things up and keep the Spurs from being able to set defensively. I liked what we saw and it go Mo Williams going for the first time since his return.

• Marvin Williams hit the game tying 3. It was only the second time in his NBA career that he hit a shot with the game on the line. The only other time was in November of 2008 when he hit a three against the Boston Celtics with :07 left (Pierce hit the game winner following for Boston) so this was the first buzzer beater of his NBA career. Marvin obviously had the big shot in the NCAA title game for North Carolina

• The Jazz defense was pretty strong tonight. It was brilliant in the closing part of the 1st quarter and for the 2nd quarter holding the Spurs to a season low points in the 1st half. Favors was unreal. He blocked 4 shots made the Spurs think about him around the rim and altered the game entirely with his defensive presence.

• Offensively, the Jazz have not solved their issues. Mo had a better game but I don’t have anything official but I believe this game had about 100 possessions and the Jazz only scored 97 points that is not a good offensive game. With that said the Jazz did a nice job in the 3rd quarter of staying with the offense when the Spurs tried to amp it up and the Jazz scored 24 points on 10 of 21 shooting and hit three 3 pointers. Then in the 4th they held it together and hit on 12 of 23 shots.

• The beginning of the 4th quarter was the epitome of how tough this team has been to get a hold on all year. We opened the 4th quarter after Favors got a layup on a pick and roll then the Jazz went 6 empty possessions and were coming up raveled having lost the lead for the first time since the 1st quarter. At that point Corbin decided to go to Millsap and Jefferson and with them waiting at the scorers table Favors got a vicious dunk with a foul and after another empty possession in the half court Favors stymied Manu’s drive and Burks got a dunk. Timeout Spurs. Millsap and Jefferson enter and the Jazz are able to make some plays offensively but are not able to get stops with the same regularity . Spurs made 7 of their next 9 shots after going 2 for 6 to start the quarter. On the flip side after scoring on just 1 of our first 7 possessions we are we able to hit 9 of 16 the rest of the quarter. We have never figured out a way to get this team to be both good offensively and defensively with units on the floor. We are either one or the other.

• Including the overtime the Spurs finished the night hitting on 12 of their final 17 shots.

• The first half was a game of three runs – Spurs 16 to 4 – Jazz went on an extended 35 to 13 and then Spurs closed on a 9-2 run to end the half.

• Millsap and Jefferson together had a tough night -24 when they were on the floor together.

• At this point year ago it seemed as though the Jazz weren’t certainly out of it. The effort tonight is a great sign that this team still has a lot of fight left in their game and they can still make a run at the playoffs.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Making the playoffs is going to need a lot of help from other people at this point but this team should only look inward, they are 3-9 over the last 12 since the trade deadline and they have buried themselves in this playoff race.

• I was stunned the team didn’t show more desperation. I don’t know if that is a lack of confidence and so without the confidence they don’t have the ability to play with gusto. Whatever it is it was hard to believe that they only could score 33 points in the first half againast a bad defensive team.

• The first quarter the Jazz got open look after open look and they didn’t hit. Now should they bypass those looks to get closer into the paint I don’t know but it felt like they got great looks and couldn’t hit. Again is that a lack of confidence. Not seeing the ball goes through the hoop drains teams energy in a hurry and it happened tonight.

• The furious comeback was nice to see. The key sequence was Marvin fouling Harden on the 3 pt shot and then Marvin missing a wide open three off great inside open ball movement.

• It wouldn’t change the outcome of the game and there are hundreds of approaches on how to handle end of game fouling and shooting 3’s so there is no blue print but I wish we did some of those things better.

• Hayward played very well tonight He was pissed about the team’s performance. If you believe in the theory that what has happened to this team is a lack of buy in from some of the guys because of an unknown future then it is almost time for Gordon to take over and be the leader of this team. He has grown and seen things he doesn’t like and he is obsessed with winning and he is ready to become a leader of this franchise and set the tone. His game still has steps that need to be taken and it is hard for him to lead while he is still developing but this franchise needs someone who is committed to the franchise to lead them in the upcoming years and Gordon is the most ready to do that, he just needs to be in a locker room where he can do that.

• Never sure why things happen so I try not to make too big a deal about it but I was surprised when not everyone on the bench was standing during the run at the end. That was concerning.

• Alec Burks was terrific in the 3rd quarter and the 4th quarter. He did the best he could on Lin. I love how his defense has improved and how it impacts the game. I love the length. He is one the one guy who can get to the rim. He doesn’t finish a lot yet but he has the skills to learn that. He has grown and earned his time on the floor. Very successful season for Burks.

• It happens so fast and the Rockets are spread out so wide it is hard for me to tell where the defense was breaking down on every play but the ability of Lin and Harden to get to the rim was way too easy. I would really need to look at this again but my feeling was the guards were getting blown by with regularity.

• This is one of the most disappointing stretches of Jazz basketball we have experienced. I am not sure why it happened or how it happened. I have learned an awful lot in the last three painful weeks and I am sure I am not the only one.

• What now – easier for us to cash it in and say it is over than the players and the coaches. They aren’t going to do that until it is mathematically impossible and that is the right thing to do. But who gives us the best chance to win and who has earned time has become a more and more legitimate discussion every day.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Very difficult loss for the Jazz. The Knicks were the aggressors all night and the Jazz were unable to make shots or plays to win the game.

• A team without Anthony, Stoudamire and Chandler is a team you need to beat with the playoffs on the line.

• The Jazz didn’t make shots. The second half the Jazz shot 13 of 45 – Mo Williams went 2 for 12 and Al Jefferson went 2 of 10 and Paul Millsap went 2 for 6 in the second half. Those are the guys that have to make the plays to win a game of this nature.

• Millsap, Mo and Jefferson combined to go 14 of 41 from the field.

• Chris Copeland out played Paul Millsap, Kurt Thomas out played Al Jefferson and Mo Williams couldn’t keep it close to Raymond Felton those are match-ups you have to win.

• Favors missed two free throws late in the third quarter when the Jazz were on the wrong side of an 8-0 run, he made a great play to grab the offensive rebound and it was the kind of play that ends runs and the kind of play that swings a game back in your favors but he missed them both. Favors went 5 of 12 from the line and 1 for 7 from the field.

• The Knicks would not allow the Jazz to get anything in the paint. They fouled everytime the Jazz had an easy basket and the Jazz didn’t match the physical play.

• Every Jazz player was a negative in the plus minus tonight in a game decided by 7 points I didn’t know that was possible.

• The Knicks dictated the game – simple as that. They wanted to the game to be mucked up and without any rhythm and that is exactly what happened and the Jazz were never able to dictate their will on the game.

• Since the trade deadline the Jazz are 2-10. Maybe the three losses on the road are going to be the story of hte season. Let’s hope not.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Gordon Hayward returns to starting line-up, the big line-up with Millsap at the 3 returns and the Jazz win. A huge win for the Jazz against one of the hottest teams of the NBA. The Jazz had to get this win. There are going to be a bunch of nights coming up that feel like if they lose the season is over and this was the first of them and the Jazz got it done.

• Hayward lead the Jazz with 17 points but most importantly had 8 defensive rebounds to lead the team. The change in the game happened in the third quarter when the guards started helping out on the rebounding side of the ball. The Jazz defended well in the 1st half but allowed 9 offensive rebounds and in the 2nd half they only allowed 2 in the 2nd half.

• The third quarter was the best defensive quarter of the season for the Jazz. They held the Grizzlies to a 9 points in the 3rd quarter and held the Grizzlies to 2 of 16 from the field.

• Al Jefferson moved the ball on offense tonight.

• With 6 minutes left the Jazz went to the big lineup with Millsap, Favors and Jefferson and they outscored the Grizzlies 15-11. The key to this is that Hayward was at the 2. Earlier this year the line-up had Foye at the 2 and then it failed. It worked tonight because of Tyshaun Prince at the three but there is an argument to just putting your best guys on the floor and that gets about as close as the Jazz can.

• Memphis had won 14 of their last 16 but were also playing their 4th game in 5 nights.

• Paul Millsap battled back. He had a dreadful 1st half and played very well in the second half.

• The first sub of the night was Marvin for Randy Foye putting Marvin and Gordon on the floor together and I love that line-up together. Marvin and Gordon add a defensive element with their length that changes this team and then when Favors comes it is even better.

• Kanter defensive understanding is improving a great deal.

• Favors had two sick moves from the free throw line. More importantly, he flashed to the top of the lane when they started to front Jefferson exactly as the offense is designed to be run and his understanding of that and where the defense is at that moment allowed him to make numerous plays out of the high post.

• Favors is 22 of his last 24 from the free throw line

• Jazz only committed 6 turnovers tonight against the team that is 2nd in the NBA in forcing turnovers.

• Memphis was a frustrated team tonight which is often a tired team.

• Don’t undervalue Earl Watson 13 minutes without a turnover. The Jazz were losing close games and their turnovers were up 3 a game.

• The Jazz were not perfect, they allowed too many three’s late when they simply couldn’t allow a three, they lost some battles for loose balls but they played with a much higher level of detail tonight and that is what got the win.

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
• Losing to OKC non-issue. Losing to OKC after they lost their last game – non issue. Getting run for the second straight game on the road is discouraging.

• The Jazz are going to need to win 3 road games the rest of the way – Houston, Dallas and Golden State. They have not won a road game since All-Star break and only 1 in about 2 months so this seems like a big task but those are the games that will define this season.

• Jazz started well and were ahead 12-6 at first timeout and 12-10 at first sub but the Thunder closed the quarter on a 22-4 run. Then the Jazz went nearly 8:00 minutes to close the 2nd quarter without scoring they missed 17 straight shots. More disturbing is 17 straight shots without a free throw. Ball game.

• Never know whether it is lack of effort, lack of shooting or what it was. I promise you this whenever you miss shots it looks like lack of effort. The defense in the 2nd quarter was ok considering how bad the offense was so that would imply some effort. I actually think this was more about really bad shooting and poor play than poor effort.

• We either don’t fight or don’t believe and when things go wrong we do a very poor job of getting back on track.

• The Favors and Jefferson combo has struggled all year and again tonight – In the 1st quarter it was outscored 11-4 in 3:15 and the Thunder scored on 5 of 7 possessions in that span. In the 3rd quarter it was on the floor for 1:50 and got outscored 7-1 – So for the night it was 18-5 in 5:05. I have no idea what is going here but it has been happening all year and more importantly I can’t find any way for Tyrone to avoid having the two of them play together at some point.

• I don’t think there are major locker-room issues. I don’t think the guys have quit. The adjustment to having Mo back on the floor has obviously been far more difficult than previous imagined.

• Favors tipped the ball in with 7:49 left in the 2nd and then 17 straight misses, Marvin from 17, Millsap layup, Jefferson from 21, Hayward from 23, Mo a layup, Jefferson 12 footer, Hayward 25 foot 3, Marvin from 23 feet, Mo an 18 footer, Jefferson from 22, Jefferson from 9, DeMarre from 2, Foye frm 15, Jefferson frm 17 and the Jazz turned it over for 6 times in that stretch as well.

• Memphis is going to be tough on Saturday, they have won 13 of 14, they are great defensively, #2 in the NBA and the Jazz are having a world of problems against teams that over play and force them off their spots in the offense.

• I don’t know what has caused this play – tonight the main reason was the Thunder and the Knicks may have been worn out emotion. The killer is still the three games of the road trip that all could have been won and weren’t.