My Take: Jazz Over Grizzlies

Posted by David Locke on February 04, 2008

‘Mile-High Miles’ (Joe Murphy – NBAE/Getty Images)

FINAL SCORE — JAZZ 110 Memphis 91
This is how a good team beats a bad team.
The Grizz were broken from the Gasol trade and the Jazz didn’t give them any hope.
The Jazz maintained good focus.
Maybe Ronnie Price has become the back-up point guard.  He seems to have improved each outing.
These two wins were elegant or fantastic but they were solid.
The Jazz have won 7 straight – 4 straight on the road -  13 of 15 overall.
SEE YOU MONDAY AT ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR THE BIG GAME V. THE HORNETS

End of 3rd Quarter — Jazz 83  Memphis 59
Time to start thinking about the Hornets on Monday.
The inevitable has happened .
The Jazz are playing hard, their defense was very good in the quarter.
The game went more up and down and the Jazz pushed it for easy looks.
Jazz have won the last two quarters by combined 58-36.
It would be nice if the Jazz bench players could carry the 4th quarter and give everyone a rest.
This has been a solid effort against a depleted team.

Halftime — Jazz 53 Memphis 40
Both teams are playing hard.
The Grizz are missing a lot of shots.
Harpring got matched up on Rudy Gay and that is brutal match-up but I love the way Harpring dealt with it.  He blasted Gay off a series of picks and scored on back to back possessions.  In the meantime, Gay never really took advantage of Harpring.
the three ball is flying tonight.  The Jazz have 5 three’s in the first half.
Great balance by the Jazz, no one with more than 8 points and 6 with 7 or 8.

End of 1st Quarter — Jazz 25 Memphis 23
Jazz started fast and it had the feeling of a blow out.  It seemed reasonable the Grizzlies would fold after the trade, but instead they are playing very hard.
The zone of the Griz caused the Jazz some problems.
Ronnie Brewer had a very good active 1st Quarter.
Boozer is not in the flow yet.
Though Booz and D-Will had a gorgeous secondary break play that few players in the NBA can match.
Rudy Gay is one heck of player.
The 2nd quarter is going to be big.  The Grizz are so short handed that when they go to the bench the Jazz should have a huge advantage.

Keys to the Game
1)  Bench advantage again tonight
2)  Keep Lowery off the free throw line
3)  Make it hard on the Grizzlies

Officials
Ron Garretson, Mark Ayotte and Leon Wood.

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