Jazz-Bobcats Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Jan 08 2013 5:56PM

The Utah Jazz's reserves have come up big lately, and they might have to keep it up with injuries to starters Mo Williams and Marvin Williams.

Utah will try to open its three-game trip with a seventh consecutive victory over the Charlotte Bobcats, who are going for their first home win in 12 tries Wednesday night.

Led by Gordon Hayward (72 points), Alec Burks (34) and Derrick Favors (26), Utah's bench is averaging 44.0 during a 3-1 stretch this month. That group contributed 53 points - two off its season high - in Monday's 100-94 home win over Dallas, as Hayward poured in a season-best 27 with four 3-pointers and Burks scored a season-high 13 while finishing the game at point guard.

"The second unit's job is to go out there and provide a spark, provide energy for us," Hayward said Tuesday after practice. "... Anytime we go in there and do that, it usually lifts the first unit even more."

Point guard Jamaal Tinsley has taken Mo Williams' spot in the starting lineup for the last eight games, and that switch could continue for a while after it was learned that Williams' surgery on his right thumb Friday was for a complete tear instead of a severe sprain.

Williams, averaging 12.9 points with a career-best 6.7 assists, is not expected to have the pin removed from his thumb until mid-February.

The Jazz (18-18) will be without Marvin Williams on this trip as he's sidelined with right knee inflammation. Utah is 0-4 without Williams, and it's uncertain who will take his spot in the starting five.

What is certain is that the Jazz like their chances when they're committing to their defensive principles. After holding the Mavericks to 14 fourth-quarter points Monday, Utah is 13-2 when giving up 96 points or fewer.

"When we buckle down and we really guard people, we're a pretty scary team," Hayward said.

The Bobcats (9-24) haven't put much fear in opponents, but they do enter this contest with two wins in three games following an 0-18 stretch. Leading scorer Kemba Walker had 20 points, including a game-tying driving layup late in regulation, in Sunday's 108-101 overtime victory over Detroit.

"It definitely helped push us away from that losing streak and get on with life," rookie coach Mike Dunlap said.

However, an 11-game home skid - the team's longest since a franchise-worst 14-game slide to end last season - still hangs over the Bobcats' heads.

Charlotte has dropped three straight with the Jazz in town following a 99-93 loss March 7.

Al Jefferson, Utah's leader with 16.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, had 31 points and nine boards in that contest. Jefferson said after the matchup that he expected a much better performance from Bobcats center Bismack Biyombo the next time the teams met.

Biyombo had two points and nine rebounds while committing a career-worst five turnovers and fouling out for the first time as a pro.

"If he's like me, he holds grudges and he'll remember," Jefferson said.

Biyombo - who had 10 points and a career-best 17 boards Sunday - and Tyrus Thomas could get plenty of minutes against Jefferson and Paul Millsap as Bobcats big man Byron Mullens could miss a seventh consecutive game with a left ankle sprain.

Mullens had 16 points, five rebounds and a career-best five blocks in last March's meeting.

Jefferson scores 26 as Jazz defeat Bobcats 112-102

By STEVE REED
Posted Jan 09 2013 10:38PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Utah coach Tyrone Corbin preached to his team before the game not to take the Charlotte Bobcats for granted.

Apparently his team listened.

Al Jefferson had 26 points and eight rebounds, and the Jazz posted a wire-to-wire 112-102 victory Wednesday night over the Bobcats for their fourth win in five games.

Jefferson was 11 of 15 from the field and the Bobcats simply had no answer for the 6-foot-10 center in the paint.

Paul Millsap chipped in with 19 points and Gordon Hayward was 4 of 5 from 3-point range for 14 points as the Jazz made light work of the Bobcats' zone defense, shooting 54 percent from the field.

"They tried to double-team me and Paul got off," Jefferson said. "They start worrying about Paul, I got off. They start worrying about both of us, Gordon and (DeMarre Carroll) and all those guys start hitting big shots. It just all worked out."

Utah led from the opening tip, building a 19-point halftime lead. The Jazz (19-18) never allowed the Bobcats to get any closer than 10 in the second half and moved back above .500.

"We wanted to make sure that we didn't come out and take these guys for granted," Corbin said. "They play hard and they played hard for an entire 48 minutes. They can make shots and attack the basket hard."

Ben Gordon led six Bobcats in double figures, scoring 20 points. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Gerald Henderson, Ramon Sessions and Kemba Walker each had 14 points for the Bobcats (9-25).

The Bobcats came in feeling confident, having won two of three since their 18-game losing streak. But once again they struggled coming out of the blocks.

The Jazz outscored the Bobcats 29-11 in the final six minutes of the first half to take a 19-point lead into the locker room. They did it with five 3-pointers - two each by Randy Foye and Hayward - during one 4 1/2-minute span.

"When we tried to cover them straight up that wasn't the answer and when we tried to double them they abused us from the outside," Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap said.

Alex Burks chipped in with 14 points and DeMarre Carroll and Derrick Favors each had 10 for the Jazz. Favors hit all five shots from the field.

"I thought we did a much better job defensively and that led us to some easy buckets," Hayward said. "We were obviously going through Paul and Al. They carried us again. We thought we had a little bit of an advantage inside and so we kind of used them. When they were double teamed, they kicked out and we were able to knock down some shots."

Jamaal Tinsley had nine points and eight assists to go along with his two steals for Utah.

"I think as long as we share the ball like we do, like tonight we give ourselves a chance to play like we did tonight," Tinsley said. "If we share the ball, no matter who scores, you know, everybody gets involved. Everybody makes shots. The biggest thing was we got stops tonight."

Whenever Charlotte tried to make a run, the Jazz had a quick answer.

Most of the time that meant getting the ball down low to Jefferson, Millsap and Favors, who had little problem scoring against Charlotte's big men Brendan Haywood and Bismack Biyombo.

Together that trio was a combined 24 of 30 from the field.

"I thought we got the ball inside and we attacked the basket," Corbin said. "I thought Al and Paul went to the basket hard but the passes they made to their teammates when they got double teamed gave guys good looks."

The Jazz were 10 of 22 from 3-point range.

Jefferson had all his points in the first three quarters and didn't play much down the stretch as the Jazz didn't particularly need his services with the game mostly out of hand.

The Bobcats have surrendered at least 100 points in 16 of their last 19 games.

"We have to pick up our defense," Henderson said. "We scored enough, but we gave up too many points to win. It's tough to try to come back on a team like that when you're down early by so much."

Two Charlotte starters - Biyombo and Tyrus Thomas - did not score, and rookie Jeffery Taylor only managed six points.

Charlotte's bench outscored its starters 67-35.

Despite those numbers Dunlap doesn't seem ready to change to the starting lineup since it's what worked in a 108-101 overtime win at Detroit on Sunday.

"I like the lineup that we had starting out against Detroit and I tried to stay with that tonight," Dunlap said.

NOTES: The Bobcats continue to be without center Byron Mullens, who remains out with an ankle injury. ... Millsap scored in double figures for the fourth straight game and the 25th time this season. ... Jefferson topped 20 points for the tenth time this season.

Notebook: Jazz 112, Bobcats 102

Derek Smith, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:35 PM - Updated Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:35 PM

THE FACTS: Al Jefferson scored 26 points and Paul Millsap added 19 as the Utah Jazz picked up a 112-102 wire-to-wire win over the Charlotte Bobcats Wednesday night at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Jazz have won four of their last five while the Bobcats have dropped 12 consecutive at home. Charlotte was led by Ben Gordon's 20 points off the bench.

QUOTABLE: We executed tonight. I thought we got the ball inside and attacked the basket. Al (Jefferson) and Paul (Millsap) went to the basket hard, but they passes they made to their teammates when they got the double teams gave guys really good looks. We made the right plays tonight and got great passes to guys cutting to the basket too.
-- Utah coach Tyrone Corbin

THE STAT: Three-point shooting was a big key in Utah's win tonight. The Jazz were 10-of-22 from the three-point line and made six more threes than the Bobcats did. The Bobcats have allowed opponents to make at least 10 threes in five of their last 10 games and allow the most made three pointers in the league with teams averaging 9.4 per game. Charlotte is next to last in three-point field goal defense in the league allowing their opponents to shoot 38.7 percent from behind the arc. Even more telling is that the Bobcats allow 10.6 threes in losses compared to 6.1 in wins and allow opponents to make 42.7 percent in losses and 27.1 percent in wins

TURNING POINT: Utah blew open the game late in the second quarter behind its strong perimeter shooting. Charlotte had pulled within a point, 34-33, with 6:02 in the half after a Ben Gordon basket before the Jazz pulled away. Gordon Hayward opened the 20-4 run with a 23-foot 3-pointer at the 5:42 mark and added two more 3s in the run. Over the spurt Utah was 7-of-10 from the floor and forced three Charlotte turnovers. Millsap closed the run with a step back jumper and the Jazz were comfortably ahead by 17 and never led by fewer than 10 the rest of the way.

HOT: Utah's starting power forward/center combination of Jefferson and Millsap were hot tonight against Charlotte. Jefferson scored 26 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished two assists and added a steal while making 11 of his 15 attempts. Millsap had 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots on the night and connected on 8 of his 12 field goal attempts.

NOT: On the other hand the starting power forward/center combination for Charlotte of Tyrus Thomas and Bismack Biyombo were much less successful. Thomas played just 10 minutes and had no points, two rebounds and two turnovers. Biyombo was also held scoreless, but did have five rebounds, two assists and two blocks on the night.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Jamaal Tinsley has played nicely since being inserted into the staring lineup nine games ago. Tinsley had nine points, eight assists, two rebounds and two steals against Charlotte. Since being inserted in the starting lineup he's averaged 6.1 points, 5.7 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals.

ROOKIE WATCH: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting against Utah and grabbed eight rebounds while dishing our four assists and picking up two steals. Fellow rookie Jeffery Taylor had six points in 18 minutes of action.

NOTABLE: Gordon scored in double figures for the sixth straight game and recorded 20 points or more for the second time in three games. Kemba Walker tallied double digits for the 31st time this season and fifth straight game. Jefferson has scored 19 or more points in each of his last six meetings against Charlotte including 26 Wednesday. He also scored in double figures for the eighth straight game and topped 20 points for the tenth time. Hayward scored in double figures for the sixth straight game.

UP NEXT: For the Jazz, Friday @ Atlanta, Saturday @ Detroit, Monday vs. Miami. For the Bobcats, Friday @ Toronto, Saturday @ Indiana, Monday @ Boston.

• Jazz: Bell, Williams
• Bobcats: Mullens

• Jazz: --
• Bobcats: Sessions

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC
• Officials: #38 Michael Smith, #70 Brent Barnaky, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 13347
• Duration: 2:05