Jazz @ Timberwolves: Give It Away

The Jazz were shooting lights-out in the first half of tonight's game against Minnesota: they were sitting around 60% from the field after the first period. 15 of their first 16 field goals were assisted. Carlos Boozer had 13 points in the first quarter. The Jazz were cruising, right? WRONG. They were tripping over themselves, second-guessing their moves, and were afraid of any physical contact at all; they looked like high school sophomores on a first date! They were turning the ball over every other time down the floor! It was enough to give anybody a splitting headache. By the time the first half was over, they had turned it over 14 times (they average 15 turnovers a game this season), and they were trailing by 5. It was a tribute to the mediocrity of the T-wolves that the lead wasn't any bigger!

Utah came out with a little more fire to start the third quarter, erasing the 5 point lead and going into the fourth quarter tied up at 72. That was the end of the highlights for the Jazz tonight. Minnesota scored 39 points in the final period, and sent the Jazz packing. Utah ended up with 24 turnovers, a season high. This makes two losses in three games; two games the Jazz were supposed to win! It's hard to place the blame on any one player for this loss (everybody was very sloppy and lackadaisical), but Boozer did have a great night on the offensive end, finishing with 34 points and 8 rebounds. Overall, however, the Utah was a no-show tonight against the cellar-dwelling T-wolves.

Now is no time to lose our momentum! Houston is riding a 12-game win streak (but they did lose Yao Ming to a season-ending injury), the Spurs are starting to pick up steam, and the Lakers are just plain scary. The Jazz have a tough stretch ahead, starting tomorrow night against the Detroit Pistons. Let's hope the home crowd and light a fire underneath the team and get them going again!! Anyone have any Advil??