Mehmet Okur has had a number of clutch performances in his career with the Utah Jazz, but Saturday night, he added another page to his rapidly growing legend.
Okur had a memorable night for a healthy person, scoring 29 points, getting six rebounds and playing defense against New York's massive 7-foot-1 Eddy Curry, listed at 280 pounds.
But he wasn't healthy at all. He was feeling so sick that he spent halftime throwing up and said he nearly did so again on the court, at the free-throw line, in the second half.
"I'm so glad didn't happen," Okur said, his sense of humor still there.
He began getting ill Thursday morning but still practiced, then missed Friday's practice with an upset gastrointestinal tract and a high fever that made him feel cold for a couple of days. He said it might have been food poisoning and might have been a virus. He didn't know. He hadn't eaten since Friday.
With the Jazz down 10 points, Okur followed a Matt Harpring 3-pointer with one of his own, then added another three that put the Jazz ahead 90-89 and then made a right-side 8-foot runner with 12.7 seconds left to tie the game at 93 and force overtime. He made the first basket of overtime to help the Jazz eventually win 104-102 at EnergySolutions Arena and get past the Knicks for the first time in six games.
What happened to get the Jazz moving when they were down 10?
"Memo," said point guard Deron Williams. "Throwing up at halftime, for him to battle back like that shows a lot of heart, a lot of character. He had a big game for us."
Fellow guard Derek Fisher thought Okur's performance should be a lesson for the team.
"Memo deserves a lot of credit for just suiting up tonight. He was really feeling bad yesterday. Just had to find something somewhere and did," Fisher said. "I think he really was an example for what we should all understand about this game: Some nights you're not going to feel good, some nights the ball is not going to be going in for you.
"No matter what's happening out there, just find a way to help your team win. That's what we get paid to do, and that's what he did, and we had a lot of guys out there giving their all."
Okur was clearly spent, even during the game. He actually missed a couple of shots late in the overtime, shots he's known for making normally.
"They believe in me," he said of his teammates. "They just keep passing me the ball on the block or outside.
"Sometimes things didn't go well for you," Okur added. "I just stay focused no matter what I'm doing out there: I'm sick, or I'm hurt, whatever. So I don't give up. I stay hungry."
Okur said he didn't feel well to start the game, and it got worse. "After a couple up-and-down, I felt bad, but I hang in there."
He felt better to start the second half, but, "a few times up-and-down, start to feeling ... losing my, you know ... I felt dizzy, everything. So at the free-throw line second half, I was going to throw up."
But he managed to hold it in — and battle the heavier Curry, who was backing into the lane like Shaquille O'Neal and scoring 27 points, with the help of nine free throws.
"He's such a good low-post scorer," Okur said. "They keep pass the ball on him on the block. Once he get hot, it's hard to stop him.
"I just tried to push him off the lane," a weak Okur said. "I think we did some part. I think my teammates did a great job. They helped me on the block against him."
And all Utah's big shot really wanted to do was, "I just want to go home. I just want to sleep."
But he said he will be ready to play again Monday when Atlanta visits.
"I'll be out there. I guess," he said. "So far, that's how I feel right now."
E-mail: lham@desnews.com