Houston • The Jazz dropped their ninth road game of the season Saturday in Houston, bringing to an a brutal of 12-of-18 games on the road. This time the damage was 124-116. Yet again, they battled back from a double-digit fourth quarter deficit to tie the game, once again they faltered.
It could be a different story. The Jazz either led or were tied in the fourth quarter of five of those nine losses. We all were so distracted by the red herring of the poor starts that we missed the bigger problem: The Jazz, despite their depth, fall off at the ends of games.
A few final thoughts from Houston:
• It looked like the Jazz had another injury on their hands. In the third quarter, Randy Foye hobbled off the floor, grimacing and grabbing at his toe. He went off the court and worked in the tunnel with Jazz assistant trainer Brian Zettler.
"I went to the back and I ran out there," Foye said. "Iced it down. I'm good. I'm ready to go."
He returned to the game, ultimately playing 32 minutes and scoring 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
• As if the injuries the Jazz already had weren't enough. Derrick Favors will undergo an MRi on Sunday to determine the severity of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Marvin Williams, meanwhile, continues to be evaluated for concussion symptoms that have kept him out of consecutive games. He is listed as questionable for Monday.
• Wondering how the point guard rotation would shake itself out with Earl Watson and Mo Williams both healthy? Saturday was a pretty good indication. Jamaal Tinsley was a DNP for the first time this season after starting three of the Jazz's last four games. Watson scored 2 points and tallied 3 assists in 12 minutes.
• I'll have more on this later, but the bench really stepped up behind Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks and, even, Jeremy Evans. Burks, who has been extremely limited this season, scored 11 points in 14 minutes. He made 4-of-7 shots. Enes Kanter contributed some nice moves and scored 6 points in 13 minutes.
• Friday in OKC the Jazz shot just 12 free throws. Saturday they only had 11 attempts. As Corbin pointed out after the game, that's hard to explain when your team scores 54 points in the paint, as the Jazz did Saturday.
• Jeremy Lin isn't the megastar he was made out to be in New York, but he's doing a nice job with the Rockets. He scored 19 points and tallied 8 assists, and was really precise cutting through the lane and finding open guys — most often Patrick Patterson.
— Bill Oram
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