Jazz-Hornets Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Feb 13 2012 1:46AM

The Utah Jazz got their only back-to-back-to-back stretch of the season off to a strong start by snapping their longest skid of 2011-12.

A visit to New Orleans to face the woeful Hornets could help them take another positive step Monday night.

Utah's three-game road trip is taking place over three consecutive nights, concluding Tuesday at NBA-leading Oklahoma City. The Jazz (14-12) kicked off their hectic journey Sunday night with a 98-88 victory over Memphis to end a three-game losing streak.

Gordon Hayward shot 8 of 12 and scored a season-high 23 points, while Al Jefferson had 21 points and a season-high 15 rebounds. Utah also benefited from an improved defensive performance after allowing an average of 102.8 points over its first six games of February. The Jazz scored 30 points of 18 Grizzlies turnovers.

"When we make some stops on the defensive end, we're able to push it a little bit more and get into our offense, instead of just walking the ball up the court and being stagnant," Hayward said. "That's really where we turned it around."

The Jazz might not have a problem making stops Monday as the Hornets (4-23) have one of the meekest offenses in the league, averaging a Western Conference-low 87.1 points. They've been even worse at home with 86.3 points per game, and are averaging 85.4 during their current eight-game skid.

Despite those struggles, New Orleans was within two points with 44 seconds left against visiting Portland on Friday. The Hornets, though, missed two of their final three shots and committed a costly turnover to seal a 94-86 defeat, their fifth straight home loss and 14th in 16 games on their own floor this season.

New Orleans played short-handed Friday after center Chris Kaman sprained his left ankle during warmups. The team also announced starting point guard Jarrett Jack is expected to miss at least a week with a sore left knee, joining Eric Gordon (sore right knee), Carl Landry (sprained left knee) and Jason Smith (concussion) on the sidelines.

"When I look at this game, I see guys who fought, who competed, who were put in a tough situation and battled all night," coach Monty Williams said. "I'm proud to be around a group of guys who fight no matter what the situation. We have to get better down the stretch, but we had guys out there who had never been in that position and it was a good learning experience."

Utah will try to take advantage of the Hornets' injury woes and win for the sixth time in its last seven visits to New Orleans.

The Hornets, meanwhile, are seeking to avoid matching their season-worst nine-game skid from Jan. 11-25. To snap their current losing streak, they'll need to perform better down the stretch than they did Jan. 2 in a 94-90 loss to the Jazz in Salt Lake City.

New Orleans led by a point with 3:49 remaining in that contest, but was outscored 11-6 from there. Jefferson led the Jazz with 22 points on 11-of-18 shooting, while Jack shot 11 of 17 and finished a season-high 27 points for the Hornets in a losing cause.

Kaman leads Hornets past Jazz 86-80

By BRETT MARTEL
Posted Feb 14 2012 12:58AM

NEW ORLEANS (AP) If the Hornets want to trade Chris Kaman sooner than later, perhaps leaving him in the starting lineup would help.

In only his seventh start this season, Kaman scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and New Orleans snapped an eight-game skid with an 86-80 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night.

"I know what I'm capable of. ... I'm just trying to be positive and do the best I can with the situation," Kaman said. "I can't worry about the situation with trades. I can't worry about the situation with the organization. It's a business, so that part I have to leave alone. ... As far as the basketball goes, that's something I'm capable of doing."

Marco Belinelli and Gustavo Ayon each added 13 points for New Orleans, which led by as many as 20 in the third quarter before holding on for only its third victory in 26 games. Greivis Vasquez had 12 points and 10 assists.

The 7-foot Kaman, who normally has played a reserve role this season, recently spent a week away from the team while the Hornets sought to trade him, hoping a team in playoff contention might be interested in a veteran center with and expiring contract. When no deal developed as quickly as the club hoped, Kaman was re-activated.

He started against Utah because center Emeka Okafor was scratched shortly before tipoff with a sore left knee.

Kaman himself was questionable heading into the game because of sore left ankle, which kept him out of a loss to Portland on Friday night. But he said he felt good enough after pregame warmups to play and turned in one of his most dominant performances as a Hornet, scoring on a variety of mid-range jumpers, graceful jump hooks and workman-like putbacks under the basket.

"I've shown for eight years what I'm capable of doing. I don't have to do it in one game," said Kaman, acquired before this season in a multiplayer trade that sent All-Star Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers. "I've had big games like that many times and I've proven myself in this league. This wasn't a statement. It wasn't anything like, `Hey, you need to play me more,' or anything like that. It was an opportunity where Emeka was hurt."

Al Jefferson had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Utah, which was playing the second of back-to-back games after winning in Memphis on Sunday night. The Jazz turned the ball over 20 times, but still managed to get as close as three points in the final minute.

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin had stressed the importance of avoiding a let-down against the slumping, undermanned Hornets, and afterward felt like his message had not gotten through.

"It was everything I thought it wouldn't be. We came out flat from the beginning of the ballgame and we turned the ball over," Corbin said. "We can't afford to do that. We had a great win (Sunday) night. We took a step back tonight."

Derrick Favors added 14 points for Utah. Raja Bell had 11 points after making his first four shots, including three 3-pointers, but played a little less than 22 minutes.

Corbin appeared frustrated with his starters during a difficult third quarter and went mostly with reserves down the stretch, which almost paid off.

New Orleans led 76-59 toward the middle of the fourth quarter after Kaman scored four straight points. Then, Utah began to claw back with a 13-3 run ignited by Earl Watson's jumper. Gordon Hayward added four points during the spurt, cutting New Orleans' lead to 79-72 on a jumper with 3:24 left.

Watson later trimmed it to 81-76 when he raced to the sidelined to grab a loose ball after Gustavo Ayon had blocked Favors underneath and threw in a 27-foot bank shot with 2:11 left. The Hornets' lead was down to 83-80 on Favors' putback with 21.6 seconds left, but then Utah had to start fouling.

Kaman made one free throw and Trevor Ariza made two more for the final margin.

"Chris Kaman was really huge tonight," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "His scoring, his rebounding, his leadership, and talking in the huddles - I've never seen him do that."

The Hornets dominated the third quarter, going on an 18-1 run to take a 20-point lead when Vasquez's basket made it 63-43. Kaman scored six of his points during the spurt on a pair of jumpers and a putback.

Utah led 21-13 in the first quarter after a 9-0 run highlighted by Favors' dunk. New Orleans responded by scoring the last seven points of the quarter, then pulled ahead with a 7-0 run to close the second quarter, with Belinelli's 3 giving the Hornets a 41-36 halftime lead.

Notes: Watson was called for a technical foul for arguing with officials early in the fourth quarter. ... For the second straight game, the Hornets had only nine players in uniform. In addition to Okafor, the Hornets were without G Eric Gordon (right knee bruise), G Jarrett Jack, (left knee bruise), F Carl Landry (left knee sprain) and F Jason Smith (concussion). The Jazz, by contrast, entered without a single injury. ... Utah fell to 3-8 on the road.

Notebook: Hornets 86, Jazz 80

Posted Monday February 13, 2012 11:45PM

By Larry Holder, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Center Chris Kaman played his best game of the season after being questionable to play with an ankle injury with 27 points and 13 rebounds as the New Orleans Hornets defeated the Utah Jazz 86-80 on Monday night at the New Orleans Arena. The Hornets snapped an eight-game winning streak and a span of 23 losses in 25 games.

QUOTABLE: "Our guys continue to fight. They do it for each other. They do it for the fans. I just think they're a unit that's been through a lot and won't use any of that as an excuse. ... Chris Kaman was really huge tonight: his scoring, his rebounding, his leadership, his talking in the huddle. I've never seen him do that. It does feel good. The food is going to be better tonight. The flight is going to be shorter tomorrow."
-- Hornets head coach Monty Williams on picking up a rare win.

THE STAT: The Jazz came out flat and sloppy against the Hornets after playing a relatively clean and aggressive game one night earlier in Memphis. Utah committed 20 turnovers overall and nine turnovers in the third quarter alone. The Hornets outscored the Jazz 25-15 in the third quarter thanks to the turnovers.

TURNING POINT: New Orleans opened the second half on about as solid of a run as it has all season. The Hornets went on on 20-4 run, which included a 16-0 span, as the Hornets went from leading 41-38 to flying ahead 61-42 with 4:35 left in the third quarter.

QUOTABLE II: "It's absolutely (disappointing). It's everything I thought it wouldn't be, it happened tonight. We came out flat at the beginning of the ballgame. We turned the ball over in the first three possessions of the game. We relaxed. We thought we could just show up and win the ballgame."
-- Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin on losing to the Hornets after winning at Memphis on Sunday.

GOOD MOVE: Corbin saw several of his frontline starters playing sluggishly in the third quarter and benched Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson, Raja Bell and Devin Harris for the entire fourth quarter. Utah didn't come from behind to win the game, but it sure made it close cutting the Hornets lead to 83-80 with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter.

BAD MOVE: It's more like bad news for the Hornets as the team announced following the win that guard Eric Gordon will have surgery on his injured right knee and will miss at least another six weeks. Gordon has played in only two games this season after being traded over from the Clippers in the Chris Paul trade in the preseason. General manager Dell Demps said the team had hoped rest and rehab would have healed Gordon's knee, but surgery is needed to fully resolve the injury.

ROOKIE WATCH: Hornets forward Gustavo Ayon continues to be a nice addition in New Orleans as he scored 13 points on 6 of 7 shooting and added nine rebounds.

NOTABLE: Forward Carl Landry (knee), forward Jason Smith (concussion), guard Jarrett Jack (knee) and center Emeka Okafor (knee) are out. Williams said during Monday's shootaround that Okafor injured his knee at some point during the last two days and had no specifics. It's the first game Okafor has missed all season.

UP NEXT: For the Jazz, Tuesday @ Oklahoma City, Friday vs. Washington, Sunday @ Houston. For the Hornets, Wednesday @ Milwaukee, Friday @ New York, Monday @ Oklahoma City.

• Jazz: Carroll
• Hornets: Gordon

• Jazz: Watson
• Hornets: --

• Lead Changes: 13
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA
• Officials: #55 Bill Kennedy, #26 Pat Fraher, #77 Karl Lane
• Attendance: 13562
• Duration: 2:15