WASHINGTON — Even after they lost at Washington on Tuesday night, it is becoming apparent that the secret that is the Jazz is out on the East Coast.
"Our coach (Eddie Jordan) was talking about how good those guys are," Wizards shooting guard Larry Hughes said, "and it got me going a bit."
Actually, quite a bit.
"They come into our place," Hughes said after scoring a season-high 38 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter, "and, even though they are a good team, we don't want to hear that."
The Wizards were well aware that rebuilding Utah — picked by many to finish last in the league this season — have won 13 games, including one Sunday at Philadelphia to kick off a six-game Eastern road swing.
"It's a great win for us," guard Brevin Knight said. "They're a good team — young and up-and-coming."
BORCHARDT SURGERY: Jazz rookie reserve center Curtis Borchardt undergoes surgery this morning to repair his broken right wrist.
The out-patient procedure to put a plate in Borchardt's fractured radius bone is being performed by Dr. Laird Swensen at the T.O.S.H. Surgical Center in Salt Lake City, Jazz trainer Gary Briggs said Tuesday.
HAIRY SUBJECT: Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko's funky mohawk was the subject of Tuesday's ESPN "Fact or Fiction" poll and a segment on SportsCenter Tuesday with Dan Patrick.
The issue: Kirilenko has the worst haircut in the NBA, fact or fiction?
Fifty-six percent of ESPN voters agreed.
COLD SHOULDER: If there was a chill in the air when the Jazz arrived in New Jersey for their game there tonight, it might have been because of the frosty relationship between star point guard Jason Kidd and media members covering the Nets.
It seems that after the Nets lost by 47 points at Memphis last Sunday, Kidd — according to the New York Daily News — "was heard spewing profanity in the locker room . . . from behind closed doors in the hallway."
Later, the Nets captain denied screaming and told reporters, "What I had to say was for the team to hear, not for everybody to be up on the door trying to listen to what I had to say."
Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, Kidd declined altogether to speak to media members.
MY ACHING . . . : How this for lousy luck? Nets forward Richard Jefferson, probable for tonight's game against the Jazz, injured his lower back Sunday — reportedly while getting up off the bench to check into the game at Memphis.
MISC.: Jazz injured-list big man Michael Ruffin continues to work out but remains out with the abdominal-muscle strain that has had him sidelined all season. He does not plan to play tonight. . . . Philadelphia 76ers star Allen Iverson reportedly could be out until January because of the hematoma in his knee that caused him to miss Sunday's loss to the Jazz - meaning he may also miss the Dec. 29 rematch at the Delta Center. . . . No. 3 Jazz point guard Mo Williams did not play (coach's decision) for a second straight game. . . . Washington got 11 rebounds and 11 points from second-season Indiana product Jared Jeffries, a career-high and season-high, respectively.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com