Jerry Sloan was not a happy man Tuesday night after the Utah Jazz lost by a bucket at home to the Miami Heat. Sloan was so upset, in fact, that the Jazz players were probably fortunate that the city was inundated by the third worst snowstorm in history by Wednesday morning.
Practice was canceled.The Jazz (37-16) will attempt to get back on their coach's good side tonight when they host the Phoenix Suns (37-18). It will be a battle of Western Conference powers both licking their wounds after rare home losses. Tip-off is set for 7.
"(Miami) just went right in the lane and waxed us and said `get out of my way, you're not tough enough to play us,' " said Sloan of Tuesday night's game. "If that happens you either go home or get beat. It looked like we went home and ended up getting beat."
Utah fell behind by 15 points in the fourth quarter before pulling to within one point in the final seconds. Afterward, the question of team chemistry - or lack thereof - was broached once again.
Greg Foster, who has been mainly positive since he and Chris Morris were returned to sender after being traded to the Orlando Magic last week, implied that there still are some hurt feelings in the Jazz locker room.
"We've got too many distractions on this team, that's obvious," said Foster. "And it's not just me and Chris. It's all of us. We've got to get this circus behind us and start playing Jazz basketball again."
The Suns, meanwhile, are coming off one of their low points of the season as well. Phoenix led the Philadelphia 76ers by 20 points in the second half on Tuesday in America West Arena - and 16 points in the fourth quarter - but lost on a last second shot, 85-84. The Suns scored only 27 points in the second half, matching their all-time franchise low. It that weren't bad enough, forward Antonio McDyess suffered a hyperextended left elbow on the game's final play and is questionable for tonight.
"It was a classic example of us flirting with fire," said Phoenix coach Danny Ainge. "We have a ten-den-cy to do that, and it finally got us."
The Jazz and Suns have similar records and are still within striking distance of Seattle for the best record in the conference. The teams have played only once thus far - a lopsided 106-84 Suns victory early in the year in Phoenix. Tonight will be the first of three battles between the two teams in the next two months.
Phoenix may be the deepest team in the league. The Suns have five players on their roster who have been NBA all-stars at least once and nine players who have averaged at least 15 points per game in a full season. Eleven Suns are averaging 16-plus minutes per game this year. Ainge, the ex-BYU star and second-year coach, hasn't been shy about using different combinations. He's uses "small ball" with three and sometimes four guards on the court at one time. He's had "tall ball" with a lineup of players 6-8 and taller with 6-10 Danny Manning playing point guard for short stretches. Players have been known to go several outings without playing much, only to be placed in the starting lineup at the last possible minute before a game tips off.
Ainge, however, wishes he could have more of a set lineup and rotation like the one Sloan uses with the Jazz.
"I hate this," Ainge said earlier this season. "I hate changing the lineup and doing all this stuff. I have no desire to do it. I would love to have a team like the Celtics and the Lakers had in the 1980s, and then Detroit after that. You knew what the starting lineup was going to be, and you knew there were three guys who would come off the bench and you knew what their roles would be.. . . Everybody wants to coach that way. But it's not that easy."
The constants to the starting lineup have been leading scorer Rex Chapman, McDyess and all-star point guard Jason Kidd. Manning has had a solid season as the team's sixth man.
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Additional Information
Race in the West
Team W L Pct GB
Seattle 42 13 .764 -
L.A. Lakers 38 16 .704 3 1/2
Utah 37 16 .698 4
Phoenix 37 17 .685 4 1/2
San Antonio 37 18 .673 5