Jazz 85, Grizzlies 80
VANCOUVER -- It's bound to happen someday. The Vancouver Grizzlies will beat the Utah Jazz. It has to happen eventually.Doesn't it?
The Jazz downed the Grizzlies yet again on Friday night 85-80 in GM Place. Fourteen times the Grizzlies have gone up against the Jazz. Fourteen times they've lost. Vancouver is the only team in the NBA who has never beaten Utah. The Grizzlies' Canadian brother, the Toronto Raptors, for instance, needed just three tries to hang a loss on the Jazz.
But the Jazz still have the Grizzlies' number.
Utah even appeared to be trying to give the Grizz the game with their poor play in the first half. In fact, it wasn't until Jeff Hornacek -- who had a rare off shooting night -- stole a rebound from Shareef Abdur-Rahim off a missed Karl Malone free throw with 10 seconds left and the Jazz up by three that they could breathe easy.
"We did what we needed to do down the stretch tonight," said Malone.
The Grizzlies, who have lost 18 of their past 19 games, did just enough to lose. They turned the ball over 15 times -- including six times in the fourth quarter.
Vancouver had bad news before they game even started. The Grizz lost their starting center on Friday for the better part of a month. Bryant "Big Country" Reeves had surgery on his right knee just hours before game time.
Bryant might have been able to help on Friday. Even with the Jazz playing uninspired basketball in the first half -- "uninspired" being a euphemism for "lousy" -- they were more than good enough to beat the Grizz.
The Jazz's shooting woes of the past couple of weeks continued in the first half. Utah was just 15-for-42 from the field for 35.7 percent in the first two quarters. The Grizz, behind Abdur-Rahim's 23 first-half points, built up a lead of as many as 11. Vancouver, which shot 54 percent from the field, was up by seven at halftime.
Utah only committed five fouls as a team in the opening half, but three were by Greg Ostertag -- in just three minutes of action. The Grizz went on a 10-0 run immediately after the Jazz center was taken out of the game with his second foul at the 10:15 mark of the first quarter.
But Ostertag was back on the floor when the Jazz made their decisive run. Utah opened the third quarter with a 14-1 run -- with Malone scored seven of them -- to turn a seven-point deficit into a six-point lead. The Grizz cooled off considerably in the third quarter -- going the first 6-1/2 minutes, in fact, without a field goal as the Jazz opened up a lead of as many as 10.
Vancouver didn't exactly roll over, however. The Grizzlies actually rallied to knot the game, 66-66, before Howard Eisley and Shandon Anderson scored consecutive hoops and birthday boy John Stockton -- who turned 37 on Friday -- sunk three straight free throws to put the Jazz back up by seven midway through the final period.
"They came after us and got back into the game with their defense," said Vancouver coach Brian Hill. "They were clawing and scratching at the end of the second quarter and in the third quarter like we knew they would."
While Vancouver is, of course, still a fledgling NBA franchise only in its fourth season, it can't help but be compared to the Raptors, upset winners at San Antonio on Friday night. Toronto is playing close to .500 ball and vying for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Rookie Vince Carter is a budding star who is a strong candidate for the Rookie of the Year Award.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies have exactly one win in the month of March.
Malone broke out of his recent shooting slump with 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field. He also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Anderson had a big night for the Jazz off the bench with 12 points, while Stockton finished with nine points and six assists.
Jeff Hornacek, who entered the game as the most accurate guard as far as field goal percentage is concerned, had an off night. He was just 2-of-8 from the floor, finishing with nine points. But Hornacek dished out five assists, however, to give him an even 5,000 for his career -- plus he came up with the big steal and two huge free throws in the final seconds to ice the game.
Abdur-Rahim finished with a game-high 30 points and nine boards, while rookie point guard Mike Bibby added 16 points.
The Jazz will face the only team in the league with a worse record than the Grizzlies tonight in Anaheim when they play the Los Angeles Clippers. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. at the Arrowhead Pond.