Utah Jazz Game Night: They get spanked by the Blazers last night, take on the Suns tonight.

by CRS-ONE

Where do we start?

Last night, the Utah Jazz lost to the Portland Trailblazers at home, 97-89.

How the hell did this happen? Previous to this, the Blazers only won one game on the road and the Jazz only lost one game at home. Let's look at some things...

• The Jazz didn't defend the three point line well. Portland was 8-17 from the night, compared to the Jazz's 5-19.
• The Jazz couldn't capitalize on turnovers. Portland gave them the ball 19 times during the game. Turnovers equal free points, but apparently not last night.
• They didn't get Andrei Kirilenko involved. This season, coach Jerry Sloan finally realized that what the Russian superstar meant by "more touches" wasn't necessarily scoring, but passing the ball and getting his teammates shots. This has worked well for the Jazz, and Kirilenko, a forward mind you, has been getting double doubles for points and assists. Last night he was barely involved in the game and had no assists for the night.
• I know that Carlos Boozer is the Jazz's main offensive weapon (29 points last night) and that it's point guard Deron Williams' job to get the ball to him. Lately it seems that Williams has been more into getting Boozer and himself into the game and no one else. Last night Kirilenko only got three shots for the entire game. Consider that Matt Harpring, Gordon Giricek and [Mehmet Okur]] shot a blistering 5-23 last night.

Thanks to the Jazz dropping their last four games, they now trail the Denver Nuggets in the Northwest Division. It's frustrating seeing them lose close games to the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks on the road. It's even more frustrating seeing them lose to a lottery team like the Blazers at home.

Tonight the Jazz travel to the valley of the sun to take on the Phoenix Suns. The way they've been playing lately, I'm really dreading the game.

This season, the Jazz have shown that they can score. But that's what the Suns do best. They score in bunches up and down the court. To win the Jazz will have to:

• Defend the perimeter. It seems like every Sun has the license to fire from three point land.
• Try to get Amare Stoudemire into foul trouble. Phoenix's offense is predicated on him being a monster and drawing double teams. Take him out of the game and you might be able to shut down their three point shooting.
• Get others involved. Get Kirilenko, Paul Millsap and Ronnie Brewer more involved in the offense. They can score and should do so. Use the lineup with them, Williams and Boozer, as it's the quickest lineup and will compete better with the Suns.

You can catch tonight's game will be on ESPN tonight, so check it out. Point guard fans will be happy, as this is the first Williams/Steve Nash battle of the season.