Deron Williams has been shuffled away from the crumbling empire that was the Utah Jazz, but, unsurprisingly, that hasn't made the team any more competitive. The Jazz were blown out by the Dallas Mavericks 118-99 on Wednesday night as Utah played a bit shorthanded. (Unfortunately, given the trade reality, it'll look like they're playing shorthanded the rest of the season.)
Jazz Vs. Mavericks: Deron Williams Excised, But Losses Continue For Utah
Peja Stojakovic earned his keep with 18 points on 7-9 (4-5 threes) shooting. Al Jefferson had 30 for Utah, but the Jazz allowed the strong-willed Mavericks to get their shots all night, and Dallas turned that into 58 percent shooting, including 10 of 20 from behind the arc.
In other action:
Spurs 109, Thunder 105: San Antonio edged the Thunder in an entertaining effort on national TV. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook led the Thunder, but couldn't overcome efforts by Tony Parker and Gary Neal. Quote time!, from Parker in NBA.com's recap:
“Nobody told me it was playoff time. It was super physical,” said Parker, who finished with 20 points.
I like to imagine Parker wore a facade of disbelief when he said that. "Nobody told me it was playoff time," Parker scoffed. "It was super physical!" Parker's talking about Nick Collison's flagrant foul, which led to technical fouls for Durant and that bastion of brooding hatred, Tim Duncan.
Sauce!
Pacers 102, Pistons 101: Brandon Rush threw dunk a game-winning dunk, which you don't see every day, as the Flying Vogels edged Detroit.
Rockets 124, Cavaliers 119: Cleveland almost pulled out a win here, but the Cavs gave up 22 (!) offensive rebounds. Cleveland had just seven of their own, and five of those were by reserve guard Manny Harris.
Kings 111, Magic 105: Without Tyreke Evans, the Kings fought through a great 31-17 performance from Dwight Howard to earn the road win. Samuel Dalembert and Jason Thompson, each of whom could be traded by the deadline, had 17 points apiece.
76ers 117, Wizards 94: Has Philly found some offense, or are the Wizards just that bad defensively? Jrue Holiday has 20 in this one to lead a balanced effort.
Raptors 118, Bulls 113: ... and just like that the Battle of James Johnson was won by the Canadians!
Grizzlies 104, Wolves 95: Zach Randolph rebounded from a crummy effort against the Nuggets Tuesday to push Memphis past Minnesota. Kevin Love is still doubling his doubles.
Suns 105, Hawks 97: Atlanta continues to limp to the finish, while the Suns look to take advantage of all the stars' Eastward journeys. Twenty points for Channing Frye.
Hornets 98, Clippers 87: Trevor Ariza busted out 22 points to overcome Blake Griffin's 21 and 13 en route to a Hornets win.
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