Utah Jazz (17-14) @ Memphis Grizzlies (15-17) Key Stats Utah road record: 4-11 Memphis home record: 9-5 Streaks: Memphis lost 7, Jazz lost 1 Standings: Jazz 7th Western Conference(.548), Grizzlies 11th Western Conference (.469) Porbable Starters Jazz/Grizzlies PG: Carlos Arroyo/ Jason Williams SG: Deshawn Stevenson/ Mike Miller SF: Matt Harpring/ James Posey PF: Andrei Kirilenko/ Pau Gasol C: Greg Ostertag/ Lorenzen Wright Coach: Jerry Sloan/ Hubie Brown Injuries Jazz: Keon Clark, Michael Ruffin, Curtis Borchardt, Ben Handlogten (All out) Greg Ostertag (possible) Grizzlies: Theron Smith, Ryan Humphreys, Troy Bell Keys to the game Jazz: Big men. They are lacking in the big men department due to injury, so the active big men must step up. Andrei Kirilenko. AK47's going up against a player much like him, versatile with a long reach. He has to play well for Utah, as always, and it should be hard. Grizzlies Lorenzen Wright. If Ostertag doesn't play, he's up against Jarron Collins and Paul Grant at Center. He could dominate all night. Paly together. Memphis are on a big losing streak, they cant let players try to take the game into their own hands and have arguments within the team in the game. Key Matchup PF: Andrei Kirilenko VS. Pau Gasol Prediction: Jazz by 4.
Sucks I am not going to be here tomorrow to follow the game and give somewhat of a detailed opinion on the outome. Personally I think the Jazz will win this game by 7. With the loss of Ben, the Jazz will be somewhat shortahnded on the big man end. Tag is most likely not 100%, so that can limit the Jazz in dominating the boards. However, I believe that AK and Harp will have pretty good games with Kirilenko being quicker than Pau and being able to take him off the dribble. Harpring has James Posey to work with which will be a test, however I think if Harp just drives to the basket and draws fouls I think he will do alright. I agree with the key matchup being AK and Pau, yet I am more interested in the matchup of Harp and Posey. That should be fun to watch. Prediction: 97-90 Utah
Jazz lose 100-88. Not a typical Jazz game, and they didn't deserve to win. AK47 struggled with Pau Gasol, but Arroyo got 25 points, but only 4 assists. I'd prefer his points to go down and assists to go up though.
