Jazz at Nets
THE STORY: The Utah Jazz figure to be a tired squad when they visit the New Jersey Nets on Monday. Utah had its six-game winning streak end in Sunday’s quadruple-overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks. It was only the ninth NBA game to ever go four overtimes and the first since the Phoenix Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers during the 1997-98 campaign. New Jersey snapped a five-game skid by beating the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ROOT Sports (Jazz), YES (Nets)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (26-23): The four-overtime loss to the Hawks was especially painful as Utah narrowly missed notching its fifth road victory of the month. The Jazz had only three road wins entering March and have been playing much better away from home. In addition to the letdown factor, another issue will be that five players saw more than 49 minutes of action against the Hawks. “That’s why you get in shape,” said center Al Jefferson, who had 28 points and 17 rebounds in 51 minutes. “We can’t make any excuses.”
ABOUT THE NETS (16-34): Point guard Deron Williams is aiming for a better performance against his former club after experiencing a tough outing in his mid-January return to Salt Lake City. Williams had 16 points on only 3-of-15 shooting and only had five assists. Williams had 19 points and matched a season-high with 14 assists in New Jersey’s victory over Charlotte but has made only 39 percent of his shots over the last five games. He hit only 7 of 18 shots against Charlotte. “It was a good win, a long time coming,” Williams said. “We’ve needed it for a while, so I’m definitely happy about it.”
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. New Jersey is only 6-16 at home after beating the Bobcats.
2. Nets forward Kris Humphries had 16 points and 20 rebounds against Charlotte for his 22nd double-double of the campaign.
3. Utah forward Derrick Favors has scored in double figures in five of the past six games.