Nuggets 105, Jazz 104
Game 81: Tuesday at the Pepsi CenterAnalysis
DENVER -- Jazz coach Jerry Sloan rested his starters, and gave his subs a chance to win Tuesday night's game at Denver. They came up short, losing 105-104 in overtime, and Sloan, for good reason, was none too thrilled with the way they went about it.
"I guess we could say we're happy with (getting the vets some rest), but I wasn't happy with the way we played," Sloan said. "I thought we had some guys who came out and didn't give us an effort. . . . It looked like we had a couple of guys who were about to die out there getting up and down the floor, and all they do is foul. That's a cheap way out."
Without naming names, Sloan was upset that the Jazz reserves free-lanced a little too much, got out of their system and even forgot a few plays: "If you can sit there and coach while the game is going on, which some of them are doing, I think -- I have a problem with that once in a while, you know, guys who want to coach -- then, when you get in the game, you lose your own coachability."
Sloan simply was not pleased, and there is no substitute way to say it.
RECORDS: Jazz 54-27; Nuggets 34-47
NEXT UP: Sacramento at Utah, Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. at the Delta Center
Three keys
Karl Malone, John Stockton & starting friends watch fourth quarter, overtime from the bench
Twenty-two turnovers to Denver's 11 just doesn't cut it
Adam Keefe has trouble in-bounding the ball in OT, resulting in one time-out and one turnover
Quotable
"Neither." -- Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek, when asked if he would rather field a question about his chronically sore knee or his pending retirement -- both of which he is asked about often