Sloan hits Milestone as Jazz beat Thunders

Jerry Sloan became the first head coach in NBA history to win 1000 games with the same team as the Utah Jazz beat the OKC Thunder 104-97 Friday night in Salt Lake City.  The victory pushed the Jazz record to 5-0 on the season.  The Thunder—the new moniker of the relocated Seattle Supersonics—dropped to 1-4.

The Jazz came out on fire in an effort to give their coach his historic victory.  Utah led 29-15 after 1 quarter and roared to a 58-29 halftime lead.  After the break, however, they started to play sloppy and finished with 19 turnovers for the game.  Despite cutting the Jazz lead to as little 8 during the final quarter they got no closer than the final margin.  Every time the Thunder started to chip away at the lead the Jazz would roar back with a big run or momentum stopping play.

The Thunder’s Kevin Durant led all scorers with 24 points, while Carlos Boozer topped the box score for the Jazz.  Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko was top rebounder with 12 and Brevin Knight added 11 assists to lead that category.  For the game, the unselfish Jazz more than doubled the Thunder’s assist output 31 to 15.  There was much concern in Salt Lake City prior to the season with starting pointguard Deron Williams on the shelf with a severe ankle sprain but backup Knight has held down the fort admirably in his absence.

Of course the biggest story of the game was Utah coach Jerry Sloan.  The low key Sloan reacted in much the same way as when he won his 1,000 game overall in 2006—not at all.  He even reacted with some embarrassment to the EnergySolutions Arena crowd standing and cheering while chanting his name during the final minute of the game:

"I wished I could've crawled under the bleachers and got out of there a little quicker”

He immediately turned the focus to his talented Jazz version 2.0:

"It's fun to watch our players. It's fun to watch them play well and it's a little aggravating when they don't play as well as you'd like."

Since taking over for previous Jazz coach Frank Layden in 1988 Sloan has posted a 1000-596 record with Utah.  And while the modest Sloan wouldn’t say anything about it, the Jazz’s Kyle Korver put it into perspective:

"It's an amazing thing. A thousand -- that's a huge number. I'm sure someday he's going to be proud of it, but you know how he is. He's not going to show it."

Even Thunder head coach P.J. Carlesimo was effusive with his praise in defeat:

"It's a tribute to him and all the players and coaches that have worked with him. When it's all said and done, he's absolutely one of the best in our profession."