This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Yeah, this is exactly how everybody expected Boozerpalooza II to end — with Carlos Boozer making a critical defensive play to help the Chicago Bulls beat his old team.
Boozer's revenge for absorbing a full night's booing Wednesday at EnergySolutions Arena may have come mainly by accident, but it is right there in the official play-by-play account: Steal, Boozer.
"That won the game for us," Boozer said.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Please note, Boozer thought I actually was asking about a phenomenal play that teammate Derrick Rose made moments earlier, hustling back to poke the ball away from Deron Williams.
Boozer then was credited with his rather innocent steal when Williams' poor pass bounced off the hands of Al Jefferson and right to him, leading to Rose's two free throws.
Those two sequences were part of a frustrating finish for the Jazz. Five times, they trailed by one point. They never even managed to tie the game, while ultimately losing 91-86.
Turns out, Jazz fans were deriding the wrong two-time All-Star. Williams took the blame for the defeat, having lost the ball three times in the final 65 seconds, which is hard to do. Two turnovers came with the Jazz down by one.
So the Jazz continually came close to making everybody happy, but failed. As emotionally invested as the fans were in cheering against Boozer and for the Jazz — not necessarily in that order — this one had to be tough to take. Not even the consolation of having Boozer's statistics (14 points, six rebounds) fall way of short of Al Jefferson's (26 points, eight boards) and Paul Millsap's (20 points, 14 boards) could overcome the damage done by the Bulls with their three former Jazzmen.
If the Jazz had overtaken the Bulls, the story would have been Jefferson's nine-point fourth quarter while being guarded mostly by Boozer. Instead, Boozer won.
Boozer was claiming no extra satisfaction, but you'd better believe otherwise. Except for the outcome, Boozerpalooza II in many ways resembled Boozerpalooza I, staged in March 2007 when Boozer finally dressed for a Jazz visit to Cleveland.
Boozer also was booed every time he touched the ball that night, although the fans' motivation apparently was different then. In Cleveland, the folks were angry at Boozer for leaving their team. In Utah, they were upset with him for, what, having stayed too long?
While there was only derision for Boozer, cheers erupted when Ronnie Brewer checked into the game and shrieks greeted Kyle Korver's entrance. This crowd once booed Gordan Giricek when he returned with Philadelphia, even through his departure brought Korver to the Jazz. Derek Fisher has experienced nothing but rough treatment with the Los Angeles Lakers.
So I'll always wonder how Karl Malone would have been received, if he had ever dressed for a game here as a Laker.
Asked to rate the atmospheres, Boozer said Cleveland's was more harsh. I would rather Jazz fans not take that as a challenge for next time. Boozerpalooza should not become an annual event here. According to his handheld sign, one fan drove 320 miles just to boo Boozer. I hope he went home satisfied.
When the Bulls come back next season, everybody should back off. Maybe they'll listen to Korver's advice.
Boozer "did a lot of great things for the Jazz: playoff runs, 20-10 seasons," Korver said. "I hope someday fans remember that, more than a dumb quote in the paper and an injury or two."
They should also recall how their anti-Boozer efforts failed Wednesday, assuming that a Jazz victory was their intended outcome, amid everything else.