Grizzlies-Jazz Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Jan 05 2012 2:50PM

What was originally diagnosed as a minor injury suffered by Zach Randolph will instead sideline the Memphis Grizzlies' All-Star power forward for at least six weeks.

While the Grizzlies have managed to beat two last-place teams without Randolph thus far, his absence is certain to be felt going during an upcoming difficult slate of games.

Looking to win three straight for the first time this season, Memphis tries to avoid a ninth consecutive road loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

Randolph, who entered Sunday averaging 19.0 points and 9.0 rebounds, posted just two and three, respectively, after apparently bruising his right knee in the first quarter of a 104-64 loss at Chicago. After undergoing an MRI on Tuesday, however, it was revealed Wednesday he suffered a torn MCL.

"That's life," coach Lionel Hollins said. "You have to go and play. He's not going to be here. We can't worry about what ifs and what we should do to get him back. This is where we are.

"This is a great opportunity for a team to show their character, show what (they're) made of, show their mental toughness because I don't think you can have success or growth without some kind of adversity."

With Randolph sidelined, Memphis (3-3) defeated Pacific Division-worst Sacramento 113-96 on Tuesday and prevailed 90-86 at Northwest Division-worst Minnesota the following night. It remains to be seen, however, how the Grizzlies will fare as the competition gets tougher.

Memphis, which has been outscored by an average of 16.8 points during its eight-game skid at Utah (3-3), visits the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday before hosting Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

The Jazz, who defeated New Orleans 94-90 on Monday and Milwaukee 85-73 on Tuesday, are looking to open 4-0 at home for the first time in three seasons.

"When we bring the energy and the crowd gets behind us, it's just kind of a snowball effect and we're able to create a run," swingman Gordon Hayward said.

Al Jefferson, averaging 22.0 points on 57.4 percent shooting over his last four games, scored a season-high 26 to go along with 10 rebounds Tuesday. Fellow big man Derrick Favors also came up big, recording a career-best five of the team's season-high 12 blocks to go with six points and seven boards.

"Derrick Favors was the one who set the tone ... ," Jefferson told NBA.com. "He set the tone and everybody got active. That's what it's going to take to win games."

It's unknown if Jefferson and the Jazz will have to worry about facing 6-foot-10 Marreese Speights, who was acquired from Philadelphia as part of a three-team trade involving New Orleans on Wednesday. The Grizzlies sent swingman Xavier Henry to the Hornets and a 2012 second-round pick to the 76ers.

"We weren't trying to get Speights to replace Zach," Hollins said."We've been trying to get a big man since we started training camp. We were really thin in the front-court area."

Speights, who has yet to play in 2011-12, has averaged 7.2 points and 3.7 boards in limited minutes over the previous three seasons.

After averaging just 13.3 points on 35.4 percent shooting over his first four games, forward Rudy Gay has totaled 42 on 51.5 percent from the field during the last two. Reserve guard O.J. Mayo has also picked up the pace, posting a combined 30 points during that stretch - three more than he scored during his first four contests.

"Having the big fella out we definitely have to raise our focus level up a little bit more and execute better offensively," Mayo said. "Execute better defensively and try to give ourselves a chance to win every night."

Jefferson, Jazz bench key 94-85 win over Grizzlies

Posted Jan 07 2012 12:49AM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Utah Jazz have a winning record for the first time this season and feel like they're just getting started.

"Everything is going the right direction. I feel like we're just scratching the surface. The positive energy on the team is just amazing," guard Earl Watson said.

Al Jefferson had 20 points and nine rebounds, and the Jazz reserves, led by Watson, outscored their Memphis Grizzlies counterparts by 30 points on the way to a 94-85 victory Friday night.

"We feel like our five off the bench could start in this league. We five off the bench believe we can dominate and change the game," said Watson, who had 11 points and five assists as the Jazz reserves outscored the depleted Memphis bench 41-11.

Paul Millsap scored 14 and Josh Howard had 13 points and a key steal in the fourth quarter to help Utah (4-3) stay unbeaten at home in four games.

The Jazz harassed the Grizzlies into 6-for-33 shooting in the fourth quarter and the interior defenders repeatedly challenged at the rim to block 10 shots, boosting their NBA-leading average of 7.5 per game.

"I thought our defense was about as good as I've seen it from one to five. The stuff we did on the defensive end was really encouraging," Utah coach Ty Corbin said.

Tony Allen made two free throws to give Memphis a 63-56 lead, its largest of the second half, with 4:56 left in the third quarter. But the Jazz, with all reserves on the court, went on an 11-1 run to end the period, capped by an offensive rebound and fallaway shot by rookie Enes Kanter that brought the crowd to its feet and put Utah up 67-64.

"I should be embarrassed to say it, but sometimes we start out or play a little sluggish but Derrick Favors and Big Turkey (Kanter) come in and show us how to do it. When we come back in, we just try and keep up what they got going," Jefferson said.

Millsap sparked a 9-0 spurt in the fourth quarter to widen the gap to 78-68 with 6:16 to play.

"That run kind of stunned us. We weren't able to weather that storm," Allen said.

Marc Gasol and Allen both scored 21 points and Rudy Gay added 17, but the Grizzlies had 20 turnovers and appeared bothered by Utah's rugged style of defense.

"It's tough to play here. We all knew that," Gasol said. "They play extra hard and the crowd is unbelievable. We have to be better at the end."

Memphis lost leading scorer Zach Randolph to a right knee injury in the first quarter of a 104-64 loss at Chicago on Sunday. He has a torn MCL and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

The Grizzlies beat two last-place teams this week in Sacramento and Minnesota without Randolph, but couldn't get scores or stops down the stretch against the Jazz. Utah topped 50 percent shooting and scored 52 points in the paint.

"Here's the deal: Zach's not here and if he was here, we still would have gotten our butts beat if we didn't execute down the stretch," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said.

Howard left the previous game with a strained left quadriceps but healed enough to team with Gordon Hayward to play tight defense against Gay in the fourth quarter, including a steal when Memphis was still within striking distance.

"That was the plan: No easy buckets for them. We tried to make everything difficult," Hayward said.

The Jazz have won their last nine games against Memphis at home and overcame an early 10-point Memphis lead.

"We put an emphasis on winning at home. We are creating that edge and holding teams to low numbers and making it tough on them. That's the home-court advantage Utah is known for," Watson said.

Notes: Hamed Haddadi, the first Iranian to play in the NBA, was re-signed by the Grizzlies last week but was not with the team due to personal matters. . Marreese Speights had yet to play this season until he was acquired by Memphis this week from Philadelphia. He played 6 scoreless minutes. . O.J. Mayo faked Watson out of his shoe on a fast break in the first half.

Notebook: Jazz 94, Grizzlies 85

By Andrew Aragon, for NBA.com
Posted Saturday January 7, 2012 1:15AM

THE FACTS: The Utah Jazz remained perfect at home as Al Jefferson had 20 points and nine rebounds in a 94-85 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.

The Jazz got an outstanding effort from their bench. Josh Howard, who had 13 points and three rebounds, outscored Memphis' reserves all by himself. Utah improved to 4-0 at home.

Marc Gasol and Tony Allen led Memphis, scoring 21 points apiece. Allen's total was a season-high.

QUOTABLE: "We have to have all the guys on the team ready to come in and compete. If you get minutes on the floor, be ready to play."
-- Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin on the play of his bench against the Grizzlies.

THE STAT: Utah's bench thoroughly outclassed Memphis' reserves, outscoring them 41-11. Each player that came off the bench for Utah scored. Howard led the way for Utah's bench, and Earl Watson had a season-high 11 points and a team-high five assists and four rebounds.

TURNING POINT: A 9-0 run by the Jazz in the fourth quarter put them in control. Paul Millsap made two baskets during the spurt that gave Utah a 78-68 lead with 6:17 remaining. Memphis missed four straight shots and committed two turnovers during the Jazz's run. The Grizzlies quickly cut Utah's 10-point lead in half, but a dunk by Jazz forward Gordon Hayward on a drive past Gasol was the final nail in Memphis' coffin.

QUOTABLE II: "I was frustrated. It seemed like every time I drive in there I try to create some contact, (and) there's no call. I just decided I'm going to dunk this. I still didn't get a call, but I got two points so ..."
-- Jazz forward Hayward on his dunk over Gasol that put Utah up, 80-73. On the Jazz's previous possession, Hayward drove to the basket, initiated contact and missed from about 5 feet. There was no foul call on the play.

HOT: Millsap continued his hot shooting, going 7-for-9, and finishing with 14 points and eight rebounds. In Utah's last two games, Millsap has shot 13-for-16. Watson made his first five shots. Allen, who averaged eight points per game prior to Friday, lit the Jazz up on 6-for-9 shooting to attain his season-high in points.

NOT: The Grizzlies missed 13 of their first 16 shots in the fourth quarter. Jazz point guard Devin Harris missed four of his first five shots. Memphis' O.J. Mayo had a rough night, shooting 3-for-12 while scoring seven points. He fouled out with 2.4 seconds remaining.

GOOD MOVE: Jefferson was in foul trouble in the fourth quarter and eventually fouled out with 42.5 seconds left in the game. But he stayed aggressive, and he forced Gasol into a bad shot with 2:05 remaining. Utah held on to an 84-76 lead with Gasol's miss.

BAD MOVE: Early in the fourth quarter, Allen drew an offensive foul on Hayward when it appeared that Hayward elbowed him in the face while trying to create space. It was a good basketball play by Allen, who then ruined the moment with some pro wrestling-style acting and theatrics. He fell to the ground like he had been hit in the face by Alistair Overeem, and was booed by the crowd when replays showed there was minimal contact between he and Hayward.

ROOKIE WATCH: Jazz rookie Alec Burks had a productive night. He had seven points and three rebounds in 15 minutes. In the second quarter, he scored on back-to-back possessions. He started the fourth quarter, and played a little more than half the period. Utah's Enes Kanter, the third overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft, had two points and three rebounds in nine minutes.

NOTABLE: Utah has defeated Memphis nine straight times at home, and is 26-6 against the Grizzlies in EnergySolutions Arena. The Jazz, who entered Friday's game leading the NBA in blocks per game at 7.5, blocked 10 more against the Grizzlies. Gasol had 11 rebounds. He has had at least 10 rebounds in five of Memphis' last six games.

UP NEXT: For the Grizzlies, Sunday @ L.A. Lakers, Tuesday vs. Thunder, Thursday vs. Knicks. For the Jazz, Saturday @ Golden State, Tuesday vs. Cavaliers, Wednesday vs. Lakers.

• Grizzlies: Arthur, Randolph
• Jazz: --

• Grizzlies: --
• Jazz: --

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
• Officials: #48 Scott Foster, #11 Derrick Collins, #31 Scott Wall
• Attendance: 19503
• Duration: 2:14