Jazz-Suns Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Jan 03 2013 10:02PM

The Phoenix Suns' Luis Scola doesn't know how long it will last but he's hoping to stay in the groove.

The forward will try to add to his resurgence Friday night while leading the Suns to a fifth consecutive home win in their series with the short-handed Utah Jazz.

Scola was averaging 11.7 points - his fewest since his 2007-08 rookie season - through the first 30 games, but he's awakened from that slump in the past week. He is averaging 26.0 points on 57.9 percent shooting over the last three games, and had a team-best 21 when Phoenix (12-21) snapped a six-game skid Wednesday with a 95-89 home win over Philadelphia.

"I feel like I'm in a better rhythm. I'm playing with more confidence and I know my teammates better. It took me a little time but I'm happy with the way things are going now. I just need to keep it going," Scola said. "There's one thing you learn in the NBA: things change so quickly that you can never get relaxed. You need to find a way to keep doing what you're doing."

Scola will try to keep things going while helping the Suns earn back-to-back victories for the first time since a season-high four-game win streak from Dec. 12-19. Phoenix will try to accomplish that feat while sending Utah (16-17) to its eighth loss in 11 games and fourth in its last five on the road.

The Jazz, though, are coming off a lopsided 106-84 win over Minnesota on Wednesday, but had the comfort of playing on their own floor where they're 10-4. Utah, 6-13 on the road, will play five of its next six games away from Salt Lake City and won't have Mo Williams to help.

The starting point guard, averaging 12.9 points and 6.7 assists, will be out for at least another six weeks after surgery for an injured right thumb.

"We can't feel sorry for ourselves," coach Tyrone Corbin said. "This is who we have and we have to figure out how we can be as good as we can with this group right now."

The Jazz would love to start showing their potential by earning their first win in Phoenix since March 4, 2010. They lost 99-84 there Dec. 14 as the Suns' Jared Dudley scored 22 points to pace five players in double figures.

Scola wasn't one of those players. He finished with just four points on 2-of-8 shooting.

With 14 points and 11 rebounds, Al Jefferson was the top scorer for Utah, which shot 40.2 percent and was 3 of 11 from 3-point range.

The Jazz beat Phoenix 94-81 at home Nov. 10 as Jefferson had 27 points and 14 rebounds. Scola had a team-best 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Suns, but they shot just 36.8 percent and were 4 of 16 from beyond the arc.

Dudley, who has combined for 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting in the last two games, is averaging 16.8 points on 56.9 percent shooting in his past five meetings with Utah.

Jazz beat Suns for second straight victory

By JONATHAN DALTON
Posted Jan 05 2013 12:19AM

PHOENIX (AP) Al Jefferson helped the Utah Jazz dominate the paint and the game Friday night.

Jefferson scored 21 points and Paul Millsap added 19 to lead the Utah Jazz past the slumping Phoenix Suns, 87-80 on Friday night.

"We kept attacking and didn't settle for too many outside shots," Jefferson said. "We kept attacking the paint."

The Jazz were dominant down low, hitting 30 of 58 shots in the paint for a 60-28 advantage.

"That's how we've got to play," Millsap said. "We come out and put it all on the floor and good things are going to happen."

Not including Utah's six free throws, the Jazz scored only 18 points outside the key.

"Almost everything they did was in the paint except a couple of jump shots," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "That's the toughest thing."

Gordon Hayward added 14 points off the bench for the Jazz, who have won consecutive games for the first time since they won four in a row Dec. 5-12.

"I didn't like the first quarter but after the first quarter until the last three minutes of the game I thought we picked it up on the defensive end."

Utah's bench outscored Phoenix's reserves 32-14 and scored 25 points off a season-high 21 Suns turnovers.

"They weren't forced," Gentry said of the turnovers. "We threw it away."

Utah was without center Enes Kanter, who sprained his right ankle in a win Wednesday against Minnesota.

Marcin Gortat had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Phoenix, which has dropped seven of eight. Goran Dragic added 17 points, but only six after the first quarter.

Randy Foye gave the Jazz the lead for good, 47-44, on a 3-pointer with 9:41 left in the third quarter - Utah's only 3-pointer on nine attempts. Four minutes later, Jefferson scored six straight points to key a 14-2 run that stretched Utah's lead to 65-52.

Phoenix pulled no closer than seven the rest of the way, needing a 10-0 run in the final two minutes to narrow the final margin.

The Suns shot 77.8 percent in the first quarter to take a 31-25 lead, with three of four starters scoring eight points or more.

But that abruptly changed in the second quarter, when the Suns' second unit went 8:24 without scoring. Fortunately for Phoenix, the Jazz were just as cold - the teams combined to miss 21 consecutive shots over a 4:28 span and Utah led only 42-40 at halftime.

"I don't know what happened," Dragic said. "The second unit didn't move the ball as well. They were playing more one and five and taking tough shots. When you play like that you're not getting good looks, you're shooting over hands and you shoot a low percentage."

Phoenix's nine second-quarter points were a season low for any quarter and just two points off the franchise record for futility.

"I thought the first quarter was the best we've played all season," Gentry said. "But the last three quarters were as bad as possibly could have played."

NOTES: The Jazz had not won in Phoenix since March 4, 2010. ... Utah won on the road for the first time since Dec. 23. ... The Suns scored seven points in a quarter on Nov. 11, 2006, against Memphis. ... Millsap missed the final nine minutes of the first quarter after he bumped heads with Suns forward P.J. Tucker. Millsap needed three stitches in his right earlobe but returned at the start of the second. Later in the game, he took a shot to the throat. ... Phoenix made 14 field goals in the first quarter but only 20 the rest of the way. . Suns guard Jared Dudley, known locally for his lack of dunking ability, was fouled on a dunk for a "dunk and one," his first, he said, since college.

Notebook: Jazz 87, Suns 80

Mike Tulumello, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Jan 05, 2013 1:13 AM - Updated Sat Jan 05, 2013 1:13 AM

THE FACTS: Scoring in single digits in any quarter of an NBA game is sure path to failure.

The once-high scoring but now lifeless Phoenix Suns found this out when the visiting Utah Jazz shut them down in the second quarter, then cruised to an easy 87-80 win.

Al Jefferson led the Jazz (17-17) with 21 points and eight rebounds. Paul Millsap had a great all-around game with 19 points, 10 boards and five steals.

"I thought he was the key to the game," Jazz coach Ty Corbin said.

Millsap said, "That's why every game is so important; you never know which one is going to be your confidence booster."

The Suns, losers of seven of the past eight, fell to 12-22. They were led by Marcin Gortat with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The Suns scored 31 points in the first quarter (they led 31-25), then 31 more in the next two periods. To get to 80, they put up 10 meaningless points in the final 2:26.

"The last three quarters were just the worst we could have possibly played," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said.

Gortat said, "It's just all about competing and playing hard. And quite honestly, we are not doing it."

After the Jazz' so-so start, "We handled the first part of the pick-and-roll defense better," Corbin said.

The Suns committed 20 turnovers while scoring just 34 baskets.

They made the game close only briefly, when they pulled to within 51-50 midway through the third quarter.

Then Jefferson hit two free throws, Randy Foye nailed a runner, then Jefferson scored near the hoop, then hit two jumpers. The Jazz now led 61-52; they cruised thereafter. They led 87-71 with 2:30 left.

The Jazz were without backup big man Enes Kanter, out with a sprained ankle. They'll also have to go without starting point guard Mo Williams for several weeks after Williams underwent thumb surgery.

QUOTABLE: "When Paul scores like that, we don't lose."
-- Jefferson on Millsap.

THE STAT: The Jazz' bench outscored the Suns' reserves 32-14.

TURNING POINT: When the Suns went to their bench.

QUOTABLE II: "We were in tune."
-- Millsap on the Jazz.

HOT: Millsap hit 7-for-10 in the second half.

NOT: Suns reserves Shannon Brown and Markieff Morris combined to shoot 1-for-11 for two points.

GOOD MOVE: Corbin expertly rotated big men Jefferson, Millsap and Derrick Favors. The result: a combined 50 points and 27 boards.

BAD MOVE: After saying before the game, "Maybe we can't sub all the (bench) guys in at once." Gentry did just that at the start of the second quarter. The result: With little firepower, the Suns went 8:27 without scoring and -- after putting up 31 points in the first period -- scored just nine in the second quarter.

IN THE ARENA: On a Friday night, the building was perhaps half-full. Attendance in the 18,000-seat arena was announced as 14,874. Boo-birds also were heard, a fairly rare occurrence in Phoenix.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Michael Beasley failed to score in 7:38. He has played 15 minutes in the past three games including one DNP (two points total). Also, P.J. Tucker, who made his third straight start (the only three of his career) failed to score in 24 minutes.

NOTABLE: The next win will be No. 2,000 all time for the Suns. They would accomplish this in the fourth-fewest games. They also have the No. 4 all-time winning percentage (.558), behind only the Lakers, Spurs and Celtics.

UP NEXT: For the Jazz, Saturday @ Denver, Monday vs. Mavericks and Wednesday @ Charlotte. For the Suns, Sunday vs. Grizzlies, Tuesday @ Bucks and Wednesday @ Celtics.

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

• Jazz: --
• Suns: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
• Officials: #10 Ron Garretson, #11 Derrick Collins, #52 Scott Twardoski
• Attendance: 14874
• Duration: 1:56