Jazz vs Suns – For all the Regular Season Marbles

video uploaded by the fine bloggers at theutahjazzblog.com

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Game Details:
Suns at Jazz
April 14, 2010
8:30 pm MDT / ESPN
Energy Solutions Arena / Salt Lake City, Utah

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After a sluggish takedown of the Golden State Warriors, the Jazz hurry back to SLC to take on the Phoenix Suns in the final game of the regular season. Carlos Boozer pulled up lame with a rib injury and may or may not play tonight. In the meantime, here are a million things to think about, courtesy of ESPN’s Peter D. Newmann – guru of NBA Statistics and Information Research:

TOP THINGS TO KNOW:

• The Suns are 21-6 after the All-Star break this season, which is second in the NBA (Magic).
• Steve Nash leads the NBA averaging 11.0 assists per game. He will become the oldest player in NBA history to lead the league in assists per game. John Stockton led the league in assists per game in 1995-96. He was 34 years, 25 days old on the final day of the regular seasons. Nash will be 36 years, 66 days old on the last day of this season. Two players have averaged 10+ assists per game at the age of 35 – Jason Kidd and John Stockton. Nash will become the third.
• The Jazz are 32-8 at home this season, but only 20-20 on the road.

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The Suns can finish at high as third in the Western Conference and as low as fifth.

The Jazz can finish as high as second in the Western Conference and as low as fifth.

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The Jazz have gotten the better of the Suns so far this season. Utah has won two games with big fourth-quarter comebacks.

Suns vs Jazz 2009-10 Season

Jan. 25 UTAH, 124-115 Jazz outscored PHX by 14 in fourth quarter
Mar. 4 UTAH, 116-108 Jazz outscored PHX by 19 in fourth quarter
Mar. 19 PHX, 110-100 PHX shot 52.7% from the field
Apr. 14 at UTAH (on ESPN)

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Steve Nash vs Deron Williams is a point guard battle worth watching. They have gone head-to-head 14 times in their careers. Each has won seven times.

Steve Nash vs Deron Williams Head-to-Head

Nash Williams
Wins 7 7
PPG 16.1 17.9
FG Pct. 47.6 45.0
RPG 3.9 2.7
APG 11.7 9.0

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The Suns and Jazz each have a major frontcourt performer that could be a free agent this summer. Amar’e Stoudemire has a player option and Carlos Boozer will be unrestricted.

Notable Potential Free Agents – 2010 Offseason

FA Type
Carlos Boozer, UTAH Unrestricted
Chris Bosh, TOR Player Option
LeBron James, CLE Player Option
Joe Johnson, ATL Unrestricted
Yao Ming, HOU Early Termination Option
Dirk Nowitzki, DAL Early Termination Option
Amar’e Stoudemire, PHX Early Termination Option
Dwyane Wade, MIA Player Option

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If you need a low-post scorer this summer, Amar’e Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer could both be available.

Most Points in the Paint: 2009-10 Season

Amar’e Stoudemire, PHX 13.6
Andrew Bogut, MIL 12.4
Carlos Boozer, UTAH 12.2
Zach Randolph, MEM 12.1
Dwight Howard, ORL 11.9

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Steve Nash leads the NBA averaging 11.0 assists per game. He will become the oldest player in NBA history to lead the league in assists per game. John Stockton led the league in assists per game in 1995-96. He was 34 years, 25 days old on the final day of the regular seasons. Nash will be 36 years, 66 days old on the last day of this season.

Two players have averaged 10+ assists per game at the age of 35 – Jason Kidd and John Stockton. Nash will become the third.

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Channing Frye is a 6-foot-11 center. Frye is fifth in the NBA in three-pointers made this season. Frye has made 165 three-pointers this season.

The most three-pointers made in a season by a player 6-foot-11 or taller is 161 by Troy Murphy in the 2008-09 season.

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The Jazz have played 81 games this season. The only players to play in all 81 are Paul Millsap and Wesley Matthews.

The Jazz have a tough decision ahead. If they do well in the postseason, should they try and keep their team together? They have several contracts expiring this offseason.

Utah Jazz Contracts Expiring in 2010 Offseason
2009-10 Salary
Carlos Boozer $12.3M
Kyle Korver $5.2M
Kyrylo Fesenko $0.9M
Wesley Matthews $0.5M
Sundiata Gaines $0.3M

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Utah guard Deron Williams is having another marvelous season. He is averaging 18.7 points per game and 10.6 assists per game this season.

Only six other players in NBA history have reached those marks in a single season besides Deron Williams. They are: Tiny Archibald, Kevin Johnson, Magic Johnson, Chris Paul, Oscar Robertson and Isiah Thomas.

That’s four Hall of Famers, the Mayor of Sacramento and the player who was selected one spot after him in the 2005 NBA Draft.

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Kyle Korver is leading the NBA in three-point field goal shooting this season. He is shooting 54.1% (59-109), which is far and away the best in the NBA this season. In fact, Korver is challenging for the best single-season in NBA history.

Highest 3-PT FG Pct. in NBA History
3-PT FG Pct.
1994-95 Steve Kerr, CHI 52.4
1995-96 Tim Legler, WSH 52.2
1988-89 Jon Sundvold, MIA 52.2
1995-96 Steve Kerr, CHI 51.5
>Korver: 54.1% this season

The Jazz single-season leader in three-point shooting is Jeff Hornacek, who shot 47.8% in the 1999-00 season.