Jazz Update 1/22/8: Utah celebrates MLK with a W against the LAC

How did the Utah Jazz celebrate Martin Luther King Day? By getting a rare road win against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center, 109-93. This was the second time they beat the Clippers in the last four days.

You could just tell that the Jazz were confident and playing tough. After all, they really need to shed their image as a weak road team. Yesterday they showed that, and at one point had a 23 point lead against the Clippers. That’s the total points that LA’s lead scorer Corey Maggette had in the whole game.

So how did they do it? They did a good job on defense, causing the Clippers to turn the ball over 20 times during the game. That led to 29 easy points for the Jazz.

"We ran and pushed the ball up the floor more than we should have instead of just walking it because we hadn't put a lot of pressure on the defense until today. That's what we have to do on the road. We can't just sit back and wait,” said Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan.

Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy agreed. “You just have to look at one stat line. Our 20 turnovers led to 29 points for them, which tells the story of the game for us. There were too many easy baskets because of our turnovers. They established a style of play and played a more physical game than us."

The Jazz had seven players in double digit scoring. Deron Williams got his typical 18 points and 13 assists, while Carlos Boozer had 12 points and rebounds. His scoring is down the last month, but I think that’s a combination of other teams defending him better and Williams getting other players involved more in the offense.

Kyle Korver had 13 points (3-5 from three point land) and Ronnie Brewer appears to have gotten himself out of Sloan’s doghouse, getting 15 points.

Paul Millsap and Matt Harpring each chipped in 17 points. This was of note for Harpring, as he’s been medically cleared by his doctor to now have no playing time restrictions due to his ongoing knee problems.

Much of yesterday’s playing time came at Andrei Kirilenko’s expense. AK-47 picked up 4 quick fouls in ten minutes of playing time and was scoreless. I hope this isn’t a sign of Kirilenko and Sloan aren’t feuding again, but more so that this game was an easy win and that Kirilenko was just having a really bad game or some sort of unnamed injury.

The Jazz have some time off this week. Their next game is on Friday, January 25 against the Sacramento Kings at home.