SPURS GET PAST SLUMPING JAZZ

At the moment, the only consolation for the slumping Utah Jazz is that it’s mathematically impossible for them to fall out of the #8 playoff spot in the NBA’s Western Conference.  Aside from that, it’s been all bad news for the Jazz.  Utah’s downward spiral continued on Friday night as they lost on the road at San Antonio 105-99.  The loss was Utah’s 6^th in their last ten games, and represented their 20^th straight road loss to the Spurs.

The Spurs got a big effort from Tony Parker, who led all scorers with 31 points and also contributed 7 assists and 6 rebounds.  Roger Mason added 16, while Tim Duncan scored 14 points and hauled in 9 rebounds.  San Antonio’s bench gave them a lift as well, with Drew Gooden chipping in for 14 points and Ime Udoka 13. 

Deron Williams’ ‘double/double’ led Utah with 25 points and 10 assists, while Mehmet Okur also posted a ‘double/double’ with 22 points and 10 rebounds.  Ronnie Brewer added 17 and Carlos Boozer 15 to round out the Jazz’s double digit scorers.  For the game, the Spurs bench outscored their Jazz counterparts by a hefty 33-16 margin.

San Antonio has struggled down the stretch with only a 6-4 record in their last ten games.  They’re currently locked in a heated struggle with the red hot Portland Trailblazers for 4^th place in the conference and the resulting home court advantage.  The two teams have identical records, but Portland owns the tiebreaker by virtue of a 3-1 season series victory.  Spurs star Tim Duncan has been plagued by sore knees, but insisted that at this stage of the season every game was important enough to play through the pain as is establishing momentum heading into the postseason:

"Every one is very important right now. But more than that, getting our confidence up and getting a rhythm going."

In the Jazz locker room, Deron Williams said that his team had to accept the reality of the situation they’ve put themselves in with their poor play down the stretch:

"We put ourselves in this position. Nobody else did. We lost tough ballgames. We had the injuries. We're still in the playoffs. We still have a chance. "

The Jazz have dropped to eighth place in the conference, one game behind Dallas for seventh.  That is significant since the #8 seed will get a date with the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.  Utah coach Jerry Sloan said that if the Jazz end up facing the Lakers they need to step up and meet the challenge:

"Whoever we play in the first round, if it's the Lakers, go play them and lay it out there. You never know what can happen."

The good news for Utah is that they play their next two games at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, where they’ve posted a solid 32-7 record this year.  They’ll host the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night and the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.  The bad news is that they’ll conclude the regular season schedule on Tuesday on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.

San Antonio will try to regain home court advantage from Portland, though they’ll have to win on the road to do so.  The Spurs are a very respectable 24-15 away from home this season, and face two teams out of the playoffs as they play Sacramento on Sunday and the Golden State Warriors on Monday.  They’ll conclude their season at home on Wednesday night against the New Orleans Hornets.