SALT LAKE CITY — After a month of battling each other in training camp and playing games that didn't count, the real deal is finally here for the Utah Jazz.
Happy Halloween and Season-Opening Day, Jazz fans.
Some quotes from this morning's Jazz shootaround to bide you over until the 7 p.m. tipoff at EnergySolutions Arena:
New Jazz small forward Marvin Williams on opening-night butterflies:
"I had a kind of a tough night sleeping last night. I was kind of restless. I was excited to get up this morning for shootaround. I'm sure it will be tough for me to lay down this afternoon, so I'm ready to get going."
Returned Jazz point guard Mo Williams on his first game back with his NBA rookie team:
"I'm ready to play, just like any other opening night. It's always the most exciting time of the year — get the preseason out of the way, to get the bumps and bruises out of the way and to get ready to go when it really counts.
Mo Williams on his four kids missing out on trick-or-treating:
"They'll be all right. They'll be at the game. They'll be able to enjoy the game. I think they're more excited about the game than anything. … They're fans. They know everybody in the NBA. It's amazing."
(Williams, who had his Barack Obama mask in his hand during the interview, said his kids will dress up for the game.)
Jazz center Al Jefferson on how different it will be to face the Mavs, who beat the Lakers in L.A. on Tuesday, without star big man Dirk Nowitizki:
"It's doing to be different, but I'm not focusing on Dallas as far as who's there or not there. I'm just focusing on my team and going out there and doing what we're supposed to do. Regardless of who is out there or not, one thing we know about Dallas (is that) whoever is out there, they're going to play hard and they proved that last night."
Jazz center Enes Kanter on his thoughts on playing-time distribution:
"I'm not worried about minutes or anything, even if I play like five minutes, I'm just going to go out there and help my teammates 100 percent. It's Coach's decision. It's not up to me. It's up to him. … It doesn't matter how many minutes I play, I'm just going to go out there and fight.
Jazz shooting guard Gordon Hayward's opening-night thoughts:
"Every opening night is special. It's the start of a new season. I think we've put in a lot of time, a lot of work. We had a solid preseason, so we're ready to go. … Minutes is something that I don't think we're worried too much about. We're worried more about wins and how we play out there when we're on the court. We have a lot of depth on this team, a lot of talent. When we're in there we've got to do our job."
Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin no longer addresses the media during home shootarounds.
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