Sometimes, the Utah Jazz offense operates like a well-oiled machine, as it did against Miami on Monday. The Jazz were almost unselfish to a fault, dishing out 38 assists of the 42 field goals made that night.
Other times, the Jazz offense sits like a Porsche on ice — the wheels are spinning, but it’s not going anywhere.
Case in point: On Tuesday against Sacramento, Utah scored a healthy 28 points in the final quarter. The only problem was that Sacramento scored 42 in the same span and won the game.
That kind of playing isn’t going to fly against the likes of Utah’s next two opponents — the reigning champions San Antonio Spurs tonight and the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
As cliché as it sounds, sometimes the best offense is a good defense, and Jazz guard Ronnie Brewer is quickly wising up to the adage.
“We’ve just got to defend,” Brewer said. “When we defend, we get out on fast breaks and get easy baskets. And when we do that, we’re successful.”
A 13-6 record would suggest that Utah has things figured out for the most part. The team is on pace for a 56-win season — five games better than last year’s total. However, that isn’t enough for Utah’s other backcourt starter, Deron Williams.
“You know, we’ve gotta get better,” Williams said. “Coming up here, we’ve got a back-to-back, and we’ve got to play with a lot of energy and a lot of fire and play solid basketball.”
The Jazz might catch a small break tonight, however. The Spurs suffered a huge blow earlier this week when they lost All-Star Tim Duncan to a sprained ankle. But the Spurs still managed to beat the Mavericks without Duncan on Wednesday behind Manu Ginobili’s 37 points.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Duncan is about 50/50 to play against Utah tonight.
San Antonio still has plenty of firepower with a backcourt that easily rivals Utah’s. Point guard Tony Parker is having the best season of his career, averaging 20 points and seven assists.
Ginobili is coming off the bench to give the Spurs 20 points, four assists and nearly five rebounds per game. At this rate, he’s a lock for the Sixth Man of the Year Award.
What makes the Spurs so good each year is their cast of savvy veterans who know a thing or two about defense — at home and on the road.
“On the road, we’ve got to pick it up on the defensive end,” Brewer said of Utah’s 5-5 record away from Salt Lake City. “We don’t have our fans behind us to push us, but we’ve got to find a way to win.”
At Dallas, the Jazz will try to slow down another pair of All-Stars averaging 21 points apiece — Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard. Combo-guard Jason Terry is also providing a huge spark off the bench with 17 points, four assists and three rebounds per game.
Note: The Jazz assigned Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko to the D-League’s Utah Flash Thursday afternoon. It will be Fesenko’s second stint with the Flash and Almond’s first. Almond becomes the third Jazz player sent to the D-League after Fesenko and Jazz guard C.J. Miles.
Lennie MahlerD-Will schools the Big Aristotle.