J.R. "Isaiah" Rider says he's finally grown up.
Apparently his mother has her doubts.The Minnesota Timberwolves' temperamental guard got booted out of Sunday's game with the Utah Jazz - a 104-96 Jazz victory - in the second quarter for continuing to trash-talk Karl Malone despite repeated warnings from referee Ken Mauer to cut it out.
Incensed by the ejection, Rider pursued Mauer, pleading his case, then headed for the bench. Halfway there he started to come back and say more, at which point Rider's mother, seated on the front row, left her seat and walked 10-15 feet onto the floor, apparently to head her son off before he did something really stupid. Probably not for the first time.
Everyone agreed that was a first.
"The only time I've ever seen that was when a boxer's mom got in the ring and hit a guy with her shoe," Malone said. "The NBA is definitely fan-tastic, because you never know what you might see. I've seen it all now."
The irony of all this is that the Minneapolis Star Tribune ran a story Sunday extolling the new Rider as a guy who has matured and realizes his responsibility to his team.
So on a night when his team is down to nine players, missing two starters because Tom Gugliotta has the flu and Andrew Lang has a torn calf muscle, Rider goes wacko.
Minnesota fans naturally blamed their team's loss on Rider's absence, or Mauer's whistle, but the fact is, Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek would have scored 40-plus if Rider had hung around. Hornacek had 22 by halftime, as Rider never did figure out which man he was supposed to defend. In one stretch, Hornacek knocked down three straight 3-pointers with nary a defender in sight.
Hornacek deserves much of the credit for a sizzling Jazz start in which they jumped out to a 37-21 lead. In the first quarter, Utah hit 13 of 17 shots (76.5 percent).
Then something familiar happened. In the second quarter, the Jazz missed their first nine shots. It's a pattern Utah has shown in its last few games, and Antoine Carr says it's the fault of the team's reserve squad - of which he is a member.
"It's basically the second team's fault," he said. "We haven't come out with the fire we need to come out with. We're just not getting the job done."
Malone acknowledged there has been such a pattern lately, but he said it's preferable to some patterns.
"I can remember when we came out crappy and then had to step up," the Mailman said. "I'd rather have it this way."
Not too surprisingly, the Timberwolves played better with Rider off taking a shower, or destroying a locker, or planning revenge, or whatever he does when he makes an early exit. His departure left the Timberwolves with a nucleus of guys who aren't exactly NBA household names - Mark Davis, Darrick Martin, Marques Bragg. But give the no-name crew credit - they played hard, scrapped on defense, made the Jazz break a sweat.
"You get guys that don't usually get a chance to play, and they were playing their hardest," Hornacek said. "We were in control most of the game, but they made us work."
"These games are harder to play than they appear to be," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "The guys who are out there know they're going to get minutes and they get more comfortable."
Minnesota point guard Spud Webb got comfy at the free-throw line, making 12 of 12 foul shots after drawing whistles for what certain anonymous Jazzmen felt were "performances." (After all, how hard do you have to bump a 125-pound guy to make him fall down?) Webb led Minnesota with 21 points, a season high. Bragg, who was in the Jazz's camp last year, scored a career-high 13.
Hornacek hit eight of nine shots and led the Jazz with 28 points. Malone totaled 27 points and a team-high nine boards, and Carr made six of nine shots for a season-high 15 points.
The Jazz next play the Hawks on Tuesday in Atlanta.