Jazz overcome Blazers 93-89

Thoughts on last night's game:

- No Raja Bell or Al Jefferson.  No Big Al is huge, but also important is no Bell.  He's been very good lately with his defense and he's been a hot shooter from the outside.  So your starting lineup is Harris, Hayward, Howard, Millsap, Favors.

- The Jazz struggled with the Blazers' length for most of the night.  The Jazz usually outblock their opponents, but they had 7 to the Blazers' 10.  Marcus Camby had 4.

- Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas were good veteran tests for Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter.  Kanter's offensive game is a long way off, but it wouldn't surprise me if he leads the league in rebouding in 3-4 years.

- I like Earl Watson's new nickname of "The Bulldog."  His energy was huge.  6 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks, and he did so much more.

- Gordon Hayward showed some mental resiliency.  He went 0-8 in the first half but went 3-4 int he second half and finished with 12 points.



Batum's knee gives out when driving on CJ Miles.

- I love CJ Miles' new attitude.  He knows he's not going to get more than 24 minutes a game, so he tries to run on every play.  He's a very effective slasher, and for so long, he tried to just be that outside threat.  He's streaky from outside, but he's a killer with his speed to the basket.
- Free-throwing shooting is an issue with this team.  They missed 12.

- Jazz outrebounded Blazers 51-37.  The crucial one was #51, an offensive rebound by Hayward amongst two Blazers with 3 seconds to go, with the Jazz up by two.  He hit them both free throws.

- Any time you shoot 38% and still win, that's a good win.

- Scary to see Nic Batum's leg buckle with 17 seconds to go in the game.  Hopefully for him, it's not too serious but when he went down, he instantly clung to his knee in pain.