The Utah Jazz played without starting center Mehmet Okur who was injured so they played small for a lot of this game. They still outrebounded the Clippers 48-35 and they shot 50% from the floor which were two huge factors in this win. The Jazz had to outscore the pesky Clippers 28-14 in the 4th quarter to win this game. Paul Millsap only played 25 minutes tonight but he still led the Jazz with 23 points and he snatched 9 rebounds. Carlos Boozer had a fantastic game finishing with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists tonight. Deron Williams was the guy who ran the show on offense with 21 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists. The Jazz are now 1-1 on the season.

The Jazz were only down 2 points heading into the 4th quarter when the Nuggets outscored them 32-25 to seal their fate. Deron Williams was outstanding in leading the Jazz on offense with 28 points, 3 rebounds and 13 assists. Andrei Kirilenko pitched in with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Ronnie Brewer also was busy for the Jazz with 16 points and 6 rebounds. The Jazz are now 0-1 on the season.

The Utah Jazz brought everyone back from last season but that might not be enough to win 50 or more games this year. Kyle Korver, C.J. Miles and Matt Harpring are all banged up and that will definately hurt the team’s depth. I would have to take the under when making a bet on the Jazz this season.

The Utah Jazz have lost SG/SF Kyle Korver indefinately due to surgery on his left knee. This will hurt the Jazz who have already lost C.J. Miles for a while hurting the depth of the Jazz big time. The Jazz will likely try to talk Matt Harpring into playing this season as he was considering retirement due to bad knees. If they can’t succeed in talking Harpring out of retirement then Ronnie Brewer will likely be playing big time minutes at shooting guard. Point guards Ronnie Price and rookie Eric Maynor might have to play some minutes at shooting guard until Korver is ready to return and there lack of size will be a huge problem.

Not many teams are led by Hall of Fame head coaches but the Jazz are. Jerry Sloan was inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame over the summer and he deserved it. He is still looking for the elusive NBA Championship as a head coach but who knows maybe this will be the year. The Jazz were 48-34 (58.5%) last season but they were only 1-4 (20%) in the playoffs. The Jazz expect to get past the first round of the playoffs this season. Sloan now has a career record of 1,043-630 (62.3%) during the regular season for the Jazz and he is 92-94 (49.5%) in the post season. The Jazz expect Sloan to get his playoff record over .500 this season with a deep run in the playoffs. Sloan now has a overall career record as a head coach in the NBA of 1,137-751 (60.2%) and he is 94-98 (49%) in the post season.