Jazz-Suns Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Dec 13 2012 9:37PM

While the Utah Jazz are out to prove they are among the better teams in the league, the Phoenix Suns simply are trying to find some consistency.

Earning a last-second victory over a Western Conference power the last time out was a good place to start for each squad.

Utah looks to earn a third straight victory in the series while avoiding a fourth consecutive loss in Phoenix on Friday night.

The Jazz (13-10) are riding a season-best four-game winning streak after Mo Williams hit a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to give them a 99-96 home win over San Antonio on Wednesday.

"We're on a mission," said Williams, who missed his first three 3-point attempts. "We want to be good. We don't know our ceiling yet."

Paul Millsap finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, Al Jefferson added 21 points and Gordon Hayward had 19 off the bench for Utah, which also beat Orlando, blew out Toronto by 32 and earned a seven-point road win over the Los Angeles Lakers during its streak.

"We wanted to show everybody what we're capable of doing, and if we continue to play like that we're going to shock the world," Millsap said. "The sky's the limit for us.

"We're headed in the right direction. We're starting to figure out how to win."

Phoenix (8-15) hopes it's on track to do the same after ending a seven-game losing streak with a dramatic 82-80 win over Memphis on Wednesday.

Goran Dragic scored the last of his 12 points on a short hook shot with 0.5 seconds remaining to give the Suns their first victory since Nov. 27.

"It was a much needed win, obviously, for us and once again it was against a real quality team," said coach Alvin Gentry, whose team shot only 36.8 percent for its second-worst mark of the season. "I thought our defense was really, really good. We struggled offensively, but I thought our defense was really good. We did a good job."

Jared Dudley and Shannon Brown led Phoenix with 15 points apiece.

"We lost every possible way you can - close games, blowouts, bad teams, good teams, different ways, different lineups - and sometimes you forget how to win," Dudley said. "Now we can start trying to get this thing rolling."

The Suns will look to do so by winning a fourth straight home meeting with the Jazz, who rank near the bottom of the West allowing an average of 103.3 points per game on the road, where they've lost nine of 13.

Utah, though, has won the previous two meetings, both in Salt Lake City. Jefferson is averaging 20.5 points and 11.2 rebounds in 21 career games versus Phoenix, marking the most points and second-most rebounds he averages against any team.

He had 27 points and 14 rebounds while Millsap added 18 and 13 to help beat the Suns 94-81 in the most recent matchup Nov. 10 without Williams, who sat out with a strained right adductor.

Luis Scola had 21 points and 11 boards and Dragic contributed 13 points and six assists for the Suns in that contest.

Suns slip past Jazz 99-84

By JONATHAN DALTON
Posted Dec 15 2012 1:47AM

PHOENIX (AP) The Phoenix Suns took advantage of playing with a lead for most of the game against the Utah Jazz.

Jared Dudley had a season-high 22 points and the Suns had a lead most of the way in a 99-84 victory over the Jazz 99-84 on Friday.

"It's so much easier when you're playing downhill rather than uphill," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said.

The Suns had trailed by double digits in all but one of their prior 11 home games and in 19 of 23 overall, but that wasn't an issue against Utah.

After falling behind early, the Suns took a 20-18 lead on a reverse layup by Dudley with 4:26 left in the first quarter and never looked back.

"We got a lot of turnovers and long rebounds," Dudley said. "When you are not taking the ball from out of bounds you can run a little bit more. I thought we had more of an aggressive mindset."

Gentry has talked before recent games of the Suns' need to move the ball, given the significantly higher percentage his team shoots when there are multiple passes before a shot.

In the first half against the Jazz, Phoenix had 16 assists on 22 baskets and finished the game with 23 assists on 38.

"That tells me we were moving the basketball and doing the right thing," Gentry said. "We are not playing isolation."

Goran Dragic added 17 points and five assists for the Suns, who have won consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 21-23. Phoenix has yet to win three straight this season.

Al Jefferson, who had 27 points and 14 rebounds in the teams' first meeting, was held to 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

"We had opportunities to come back but we could just never get over the hump because they had their confidence going," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "They ran hard and cut hard and ran harder than we did."

Paul Millsap added 12 points for Utah, which was held below 90 points for just the second time in its past 13 games.

The Jazz cut a 12-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to seven at 79-72 on Derrick Favors' 8-foot jumper with 10:23 remaining.

But Phoenix went on an 18-4 run and cruised to the victory.

"I don't think their defense is that great, to be honest with you," Millsap said. "I feel like we didn't execute as well as we're supposed to. We had some open looks that didn't go down and our offense was just real stagnant."

Phoenix scored a season-best 34 first-quarter points and took a 12-point lead after the first and stretched its lead to as many as 20 at 56-36 on a layup by Dudley with 3:34 left in the first half.

But the momentum disappeared over the next several minutes. Utah held Phoenix without a field goal over the remainder of the first half and cut the lead to 56-42 at halftime.

Four different Jazz players scored during a 7-1 run over the middle three minutes of the third quarter, capped by a driving layup by Millsap to pull Utah within 65-61.

"We got a little disorganized and had a couple of bad possessions, but then we got right back into it and did a good job," Gentry said.

Dudley hit a 3-pointer with 3:48 to go in the third quarter to put the Suns back in front by seven and Phoenix led 77-65 after three.

After Favors brought the Jazz back within seven, the Suns took control. Favors was called for a technical foul, Corbin was also whistled for a technical less than a minute later, and P.J. Tucker made a key steal and subsequent layup as Phoenix took an 85-72 lead.

"We play well against good teams and we demonstrated this in the last two games," Dragic said. "If we can defend well and rebound then we can run."

NOTES: Utah entered the game sixth in the NBA in fast-break scoring, but was outscored 19-7. Phoenix also led 48-42 in points in the paint. ... The Jazz have not won consecutive games against the Suns since a three-game winning streak from March 2009 to March 2010. ... Utah fell to 4-10 on the road.

Notebook: Suns 99, Jazz 84

Mike Tulumello, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Dec 15, 2012 12:13 AM - Updated Sat Dec 15, 2012 12:13 AM

THE FACTS: The Phoenix Suns are hoping their big win over the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday was the start of a big homestand.

They followed through Friday night, piling up 50 points in less than 19 minutes after tipoff, then fought off a couple of comeback tries by the visiting Utah Jazz en route to a 99-84 win.

The Jazz (13-11) had their four-game win streak snapped. The Suns (9-15) got a huge game from Jared Dudley, who is playing as if he is the solution at the starting small forward spot. Dudley put up a season-high 22 points, plus five assists, four rebounds and three steals in 43 minutes.

Marcin Gortat added 12 points and 14 boards while defending Al Jefferson, who usually crushes the Suns. In this game, Jefferson settled for 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Goran Dragic had 17 points, five assists and just one turnover.

In addition to Jefferson, the Jazz got 12 points and seven boards from Paul Millsap.

Dudley began his season as the starting off guard, struggled then assumed a reserve role. Now, he's starting at the "three" spot, where he "probably should have been all along," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said.

"When you play at 'two" [off guard], you're usually on quicker guys," Dudley said. "You exert more energy."

A corresponding move has Michael Beasley, who began the season as the starting small forward, playing off the bench more at the "four" spot.

The Jazz pulled within 65-61 and 79-72 but the Suns broke away each time. For the game, they held the Jazz to just 40 percent shooting.

They had a margin for error by ramping up the tempo early and running up a 56-36 lead, before the Jazz closed it to 56-42 at halftime.

QUOTABLE: "Our best first quarter by far...It's so much easier playing downhill than uphill."
-- Alvin Gentry on his team, which had fallen behind by double digits in 19 of the previous 23 games.

THE STAT: The Suns stayed close to the better-rebounding Jazz on the boards; the margin was only 47-73 for Utah.

TURNING POINT: The Suns, down 13-12 midway through the first quarter, attacked the basket in the halfcourt and broke away for fast breaks. Over the next 15 minutes, they outscored the Jazz 44-23 for a 56-36 lead.

QUOTABLE II: "I don't think their defense is that great to be honest with you." We just didn't execute as well as we're supposed to."
-- Paul Millsap

HOT: Dudley shot 9-for-12.

NOT: Jefferson was held to 6-for-16 shooting.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: After a terrible first few weeks, Dudley is back to pestering ways, scoring off loose balls, 3-pointers and drives to the basket. He has scored in double figures in seven of the past eight games, and he has scored 15-plus in three of four games since rejoining the starting lineup.

NOTABLE: The Jazz traditionally lose in Arizona. They are now 22-57 all time.

UP NEXT: For the Jazz, Saturday vs. Memphis, Tuesday @ Brooklyn and Wednesday @ Indiana. For the Suns, Monday vs. Sacramento, Wednesday vs. Charlotte and Saturday at Portland.

• Jazz: Bell, Murphy
• Suns: Frye, Marshall

• Jazz: Corbin, Favors
• Suns: --

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #33 Sean Corbin, #29 Mark Lindsay
• Attendance: 14182
• Duration: 2:05