The Utah Jazz and Utah Flash were represented well in New Orleans by guard Morris Almond and center Kyrylo Fesenko in the NBA Development League All-Star Game.
Both on assignment from the Jazz to the Flash, Almond and Fesenko helped lead the Blue Team to a 117-99 victory over the Red Team on Saturday.
Almond shot 8-10 for 20 points, while Fesenko had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting as well as eight rebounds and three assists.
"I was proud of them," Flash general manager David Fredman said. "I hope they can bring that kind of play to us on a consistent basis."
ALMOND IN H.O.R.S.E: The night before, Almond competed in the first H.O.R.S.E competition to feature NBA players in three decades, since stars like George Gervin, Rick Barry and Pete Maravich competed in televised contests on CBS.
Almond won his opening matchup, easily dispatching forward Kasib Powell of the Sioux Falls Skyforce, to advance to the final round against Idaho Stampede center Lance Allred, who played collegiately at the University of Utah
Almond tried the more difficult shots, such as sitting, kneeling and from behind the basket. Meanwhile, Allred settled for standard shots such as 3-pointers and bankers.
In the end, Allred's strategy proved to be more effective — if less exciting — as he walked away with the win.
UPCOMING ACTION: After 10 days off since a 99-92 win over the first-place Idaho Stampede, Utah returns to action with two road games this weekend. First up are the Tulsa 66ers on Friday night at 6 p.m. CST. The Flash will then play the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Sunday at 4 p.m. CST.
Fort Wayne just lost forward Jeremy Richardson, who was named the MVP of the D-League All-Star Game. Richardson signed a 10-day contract with the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
Earlier in the season, both Tulsa and Fort Wayne visited Utah's home court and came away with wins, so the Flash are hoping to make up for those home losses by winning on the road.
"Anytime you lose at home, you have to do something to correct yourself," Flash coach Brad Jones said. "One way is to go and beat them on the road. We want to recoup those home losses."
Utah is 16-16, good for the eighth best record in the D-League. They are 8.5 games behind Idaho for the West Division lead and 1.5 games behind Tulsa for the sixth-best record.
The three division winners and the three teams with the next best records will make it to the playoffs.
Fredman and Jones said the keys to making the postseason will be consistency and cutting down on the turnovers and other mistakes that have plagued the Flash all season.