Brewer, Miles step up in Jazz win

By Andrew Aragon, for NBA.com
Posted Thursday January 7, 2010 1:08AM

SALT LAKE CITY (NBA.com exclusive) -- There isn't a team in the NBA that can get the Utah Jazz out of a slump like the Memphis Grizzlies.

With Deron Williams in street clothes, with Carlos Boozer in early foul trouble, with a point guard making his NBA debut and playing extended minutes in the second quarter, the Jazz were still able to defeat what was a hot Memphis team 117-94 on Wednesday night.

Utah (18-17) has now defeated Memphis (17-17) 11 straight times and by an average margin of 16.9 points per game.

Players such as Carlos Boozer and C.J. Miles said they weren't sure why the Jazz have had the Grizzlies' number, but the reasons for their latest win over Memphis were obvious. They shared the ball, got good shots, knocked them down and played great defense throughout the game.

"Our guys played pretty well," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "We passed the ball. When you pass the ball, and share the ball, you get a lot of easy baskets. I thought our guys did a great job of doing that."

The Jazz were able to efficiently execute their offense without Williams, who sat out after spraining his right wrist in the fourth quarter of Utah's 91-87 loss to New Orleans on Monday. It was the third game he's missed this season, and the first one because of injury.

Without their starting point guard, Utah had a season-high 39 assists. Ronnie Brewer dished a career-high 10 assists and Miles scored a season-high 24 points. Ronnie Price started in Williams' place and shared point guard duties with Sundiata Gaines, who was signed from the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League on Tuesday.

Brewer and Miles also took turns playing point with Price and Gaines and all four players were effective on both ends of the floor.

"Ronnie Price and Ronnie Brewer got our defense going, and we just took off from there," Boozer said. "We got layup, after layup, after layup and it started with those two."

Utah started to pull away from Memphis with Boozer, who picked up two fouls in the first quarter, on the bench. Sloan opened the second quarter with no starters on the floor. He went with Andrei Kirilenko, Paul Millsap, Wesley Matthews, Kyrylo Fesenko and Gaines, and the makeshift lineup held the Grizzlies without a field goal while going on a 9-1 run to open the second period.

Utah built a 12-point halftime lead by shooting 62 percent. The Jazz made 23 shots in the first half and 19 of them were assisted.

"They were getting high quality shots," said Memphis coach Lionel Hollins. "If we challenge shots and play defense the way we're capable of playing then I'd like to see them make all those shots."

Miles helped the Jazz quickly adjust to Williams' absence, as he made six of his first seven shots, three of which were 3-pointers.

"The fast start was great, but it was more the attitude and the effort I put in to trying to get open" Miles said. "I was trying to stop OJ Mayo and trying to do everything I did to get into the rhythm of the game."

The Jazz broke the game open in the third quarter, building their lead to 25 points in less than 9 minutes. Price gave Utah its biggest lead of the third at 87-62 when he scored on fast break layup. Matthews put the Jazz up 106-77 with a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

The two teams were heading in opposite directions prior to Wednesday's game. Memphis had won four straight and seven of eight and were above .500 the latest in a season since 2005-06. Utah had lost three of four home games and seven of 11 since beating the Lakers on Dec. 12.

The Jazz hadn't scored 100 points in six of their last seven games, but topped that total with 9:03 remaining when Miles scored on a put-back to put Utah up, 101-75.

Boozer, who scored 20 points and had six rebounds, said the turnaround was sparked by the Jazz just letting loose and having fun.

"We said, 'Let's go have fun, get out and play loose out there and enjoy the game,'" he said. "When you lose three games in a row, you're not going to be in a great mood. For us, we got to dust that off and move forward and that's what we did tonight."

The two teams rematch on Friday and the Jazz will try and continue their mastery of the Grizzlies in Memphis. That gives them a couple of days to try and figure out why they've had their way with them.

"Who knows," Boozer said. "They got a talented roster. They were a hot team coming in, kicking butt, and I'm glad we played great defense tonight. We got to take that with us over there. They're trying to get in the playoff hunt just like we are."

• Grizzlies: Arthur
• Jazz: Williams

• Grizzlies: --
• Jazz: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
• Officials: #26 Bob Delaney, #55 Bill Kennedy, #71 Rodney Mott
• Attendance: 19008
• Duration: 2:12