Game 27: Friday night at the G.M. Place
This was a game the Jazz probably should have won going away -- but it turned out to be yet another nail-biter.The Grizzlies, in addition to just not being a very good NBA team at present, have been decimated by injury. The latest blow was Friday morning when it was determined that starting center Bryant "Big Country" Reeves needed surgery on his right knee due to a slight tear of his posterior lateral meniscus. He went under the knife just a couple of hours before game time and will miss at least three to four weeks.
Yet the Jazz needed a Jeff Hornacek steal off a missed Karl Malone free throw to put the game away with 10 seconds to play.
The loss was Vancouver's 18th in 19 tries, while the Jazz have won two in a row since dropping two straight in overtime last weekend. It was Utah's fourth straight down-to-the-wire game in a row.
Maybe tonight's game won't be so nerve-wracking. The Jazz left the Great White North for Southern California shortly after the game, but still weren't expected to be checked into their Anaheim area hotel until around 3 a.m. Saturday. The good news for the Jazz is that tonight's opponent, the Clippers aren't very good and they have gone through an almost equally tough journey. Los Angeles lost Friday night in Seattle. -- Loren Jorgensen
RECORDS: Jazz 21-6, Grizzlies 5-23
NEXT UP: Jazz at L.A. Clippers, Saturday, 8:30 p.m., at the Arrowhead Pond at Anaheim, Fox Sports cable.
1st 2nd
Grizzlies 22 Grizzlies 20
Jazz 16 Jazz 19
Malone 8 pts. Abdur-Rahim 11 pts.
3rd 4th
Jazz 25 Jazz 25
Grizzlies 15 Grizzlies 23
Malone 12 pts. Anderson 6 pts.
FG FT Reb
UTAH Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Russell 32 3-9 0-0 1-6 3 4 6
Malone 37 10-20 6-11 5-8 2 2 26
Ostertag 27 3-4 1-2 0-4 1 4 7
Hornacek 27 2-8 5-5 0-3 5 2 9
Stockton 28 3-7 3-5 0-3 6 1 10
Foster 12 2-3 0-0 0-2 0 0 4
Eisley 20 2-7 0-0 0-2 3 0 4
Anderson 21 5-7 2-3 0-1 1 0 12
Bailey 15 1-6 2-2 2-3 1 0 4
Fuller 5 1-5 0-0 2-2 1 0 2
Keefe 16 0-0 1-2 0-3 1 0 1
Totals 240 32-76 20-30 10-37 24 13 85
Percentages: FG .421, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 1-7, .143 (Stockton 1-2, Eisley 0-1, Russell 0-4). Team Rebounds: 11. Blocked Shots: 2 (Malone 2). Turnovers: 11 (Eisley 2, Hornacek 2, Malone 2, Ostertag, Russell, Stockton, Foster, Anderson). Steals: 12 (Stockton 3, Hornacek 2, Anderson 2, Ostertag, Russell, Eisley, Malone, Bailey). Technical Fouls: None. Illegal Defense: 1.
FG FT Reb
VANC Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts
Abdur-Rahim 43 13-21 2-3 1-9 5 3 30
Parks 15 1-4 0-0 0-3 1 1 2
Massenburg 33 4-8 2-4 2-6 0 5 10
Lopez 30 3-7 0-0 2-8 6 2 6
Bibby 33 7-12 1-2 0-3 4 4 16
Dehere 6 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 2 0
Smith 19 2-2 3-4 2-4 1 2 7
Wheat 15 1-5 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Chilcutt 29 1-7 0-0 0-4 0 3 3
Henderson 17 2-4 0-2 0-1 3 2 4
Totals 240 34-70 8-15 7-39 21 24 80
Percentages: FG .486, FT .533. 3-Point Goals: 4-13, .308 (Abdur-Rahim 2-2, Chilcutt 1-4, Bibby 1-4, Wheat 0-1, Lopez 0-2). Team Rebounds: 10. Blocked Shots: 4 (Smith 2, Abdur-Rahim, Bibby). Turnovers: 15 (Abdur-Rahim 5, Bibby 4, Lopez 3, Massenburg, Wheat, Dehere). Steals: 8 (Chilcutt 3, Abdur-Rahim, Massenburg, Lopez, Parks, Wheat). Technical Fouls: Illegal Defense, 9:42 third; Coach Hill, 6:17 fourth. Flagrant fouls: Smith, 9:42 fourth. Illegal Defense: 1.
A -- 19,193 (19,193). T -- 2:10.
Officials -- Nolan Fine, Michael Smith, Jim Clark.