It was nearing crunch-or-be-crunched time in the fourth quarter of what realistically was a huge game for the Utah Jazz Sunday afternoon. And there the Jazz were, dangerously close to blowing yet another lead at the Delta Center and extending The Streak in front of a national TV audience against the NBA champions.
So, it only figures the slumping squad would turn to its 6-foot-9, 255-pound veteran power forward for some offensive punch.And, of course, Karl Malone stepped up, right?
Actually, try Armen Gilliam on for the same size.
While the Mailman went scoreless in the final quarter of the Jazz's 93-90 win over the San Antonio Spurs, it was the reserve nicknamed after baking soda -- Armen "Hammer" -- who carried Utah offensively and played some decent defense against Tim Duncan to boot.
"Other guys have to step up," said Malone, "and Armen came out and hit some big shots for us down the stretch."
And in the national spotlight no less.
Not at all bad for the longtime NBA journeyman who recently had a conversation with a 10-year-old fan in a wheelchair that went something like this:
Gilliam: Hi kid, how ya doin'? What's your name?
Kid: Good. I'm Joel. Who are you?
Gilliam: I'm the new Jazz guy, Armen Gilliam.
Kid: That's cool. What do you play?
Gilliam: Power forward. I'm here to help Karl Malone.
Did he ever help out on Sunday.
Gilliam notched eight of his 10 points and grabbed five of his seven rebounds in the final period. At one point in the fourth, the recent Jazz addition scored six straight points and eight of 10 for Utah -- all coming on jumpers from nine-to-19-feet out. More quarters like that, and nobody will be asking who he is.
"John (Stockton) hit me with a couple of good passes," Gilliam said. "They just made it real easy for me to score. Those were shots I was very comfortable taking."
One of the main reasons the Jazz acquired Gilliam a month ago was for situations like Sunday.
The Spurs were doing a nice job of slowing the pick-and-roll by forcing it out further on the perimeter -- something that has happened a lot this season -- so Utah needed another weapon. Voila, the Jazz responded by redirecting the offense toward Gilliam, who has five double-figure games in a month with Utah. He followed through with a flurry of mid-range jumpers that kept the Jazz ahead of the Spurs for a long stretch in the fourth.
"We've played, what, 46 ball games? That's the first time the play has been effective for us. So we're making progress," said Utah coach Jerry Sloan, sarcastically, while explaining how important it is for the Jazz to have extra options off of the standard pick-and-roll play.
"I thought he made some big shots for us," said Utah center Olden Polynice of Gilliam. "That was a big plus for us."
Gilliam, the only Jazzman to log all 12 fourth-quarter minutes, also played a key role in Utah's defensive scheme in the late going. After watching Duncan go off for 24 points in the first half and 30 through the first three quarters, the Jazz went small. For the last nine minutes, Gilliam and Malone were the biggest guys Utah had on the court, meaning the Jazz gave up several inches to the Spurs' 7-foot Duncan and 7-1 David Robinson.
The ploy, which included sending Stockton down to double Duncan, worked wonders as the MVP candidate was held to merely two points in the fourth. He missed a bevy of important shots in the closing minutes.
"For three quarters he kind of had free reign on us. We wanted to make it as difficult as possible for him after that," said Gilliam, who had one particularly great stop against Duncan in the last two minutes along with a block of one of Robinson's shots. "We just didn't want to give him anything easy."
Or give him the chance to ruin Gilliam's breakout quarter.