Jazz 124 – Suns 115

Copyright 2010 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE/Getty Images)

Despite giving up a ridiculous 45 points in the second quarter and being down 17 in the third quarter, the Jazz rallied for an important win at home against the reeling Suns.

The first half will forever be known as the time a 15 year-old high school player snuck into the Suns locker room, stole a jersey, and proceeded to hit 4 three pointers and 24 points. He ended up with 32 and was revealed after the game to be “Goran Dragic,” an actual NBA player. Apparently he’s part of the secret cabal of NBA shooting guards who circle the date on the calendar when they play the Jazz, and are required by their unspoken code to score a career high.

The only career high that mattered, though, was young Wesley Matthews scoring 21 points and hitting crucial baskets and free throws and picking up big steals. He and Kirilenko do the little things that seem to ignite the rest of the team.

The top performers:

Wesley Matthews has certainly been a great surprise, but at this point you’d half to say that other than DWill and Boozer, AK is the secret sauce that makes this team dangerous. The key to the Jazz comeback was the extra passes leading to points in the paint. When these guys start playing the passing game and taking care of the ball, they’re hard to beat.

The win moves the Jazz into second place in the Northwest division and into 4th place in the West. For a team that was flirting with the 10 spot recently, the outlook is suddenly much brighter.

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