If nothing else, the Jazz can take solace in their still being something special about Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City. That and their having avoided the dreaded sweep. The Jazz improved to 7-0 in that particular building during these 2007 playoffs with their 109-84 dismantling of the San Antonio Spurs. Deron Williams lead the way with 31 points and 8 assists, and Carlos Boozer had another impressive double double, putting 27 points on the board and grabbing 12 rebounds.
San Antonio's big men found themselves constantly hampered by foul trouble throughout the entire game. Tim Duncan, whose performance in these playoffs has been nothing short of immaculate, struggled to get into any sort of rhythm. He finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds, an appalling line on the stat sheet when compared to Duncan's other games in the past couple of weeks. In fact, this was the first time in 11 games he had failed to reach 20 points and 10 rebounds.
On the defensive end, Duncan just never seemed to be locked in, probably from spending so much time on the San Antonio bench. He also wasn't himself from an offensive standpoint. It seemed that he would simply drift into the post, where Okur and others were crowding in on him, and waited for the ball to come to him. Duncan is very capable of muscling people around in the paint, but he also is very gifted at moving without the ball to help the offense find an opening. He typically utilizes screens and uses other forms of movement very well throughout the entire duration of the offensive possession. Tonight, however, he seemed content to try and bang around inside rather than slipping in, around, and behind the various Jazz defensive sets.
Give the Jazz's role players a good chunk of the credit for this win. Boozer and Williams did the heavy lifting, but this had been the case in Game Two on Tuesday. The support system to make Williams and Boozer's efforts worthwhile held up tonight, and the result showed in the final score. Derek Fisher and Gordan Giricek both shot 4-of-8 from the field for 11 points, a welcome departure from their quiet games in San Antonio. Even players that don't typically contribute much made sure to get theirs, like Jarron Collins' 7 unexpected points off the bench. Mehmet Okur continued to struggle with his scoring and only took three shots in Game Three, but his defense on Duncan proved paramount. A good portion of Duncan's foul trouble came at the offensive end of the floor and at Okur's hand.
Article comments
1 - RJ
Good article.
The blowout fashion in which the Jazz won this game surprised me, but I still think San Antonio will win the series in five or six.