The San Antonio Spurs, in town to play the Jazz on Monday night, were one of those teams and Korver said the possibility of playing for the defending NBA champions was intriguing when he first learned of it.
"Everybody thinks real highly of the Spurs,'' Korver said. "If you're any kind of basketball player at all, that's the type of team you want to be involved with. But I feel like there's a lot of similarities between here and there.
"We haven't won the championships that they have, but I feel like we're headed in that direction and I'm glad to be here."
The Spurs could have used Korver's three-point shooting even more after losing Brent Barry for three to four weeks with a calf injury. From his agent, Korver also heard that Miami had interest in him.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich praised Korver at the pregame shootaround, calling him a "fine addition."
"Obviously, he's a great shooter,'' Popovich said. "But he's also a tough kid. He fits into their system very well. He doesn't back off from anybody. He's a physical player. He's not just a shooter in that regard.
"And he spreads the floor well - as we all know - and keeps things open for Carlos [Boozer]. . . So he's a fine addition."
The Jazz came into Monday having won 10 of 12 games since Korver's arrival. Korver is averaging 10.9 points in 22.2 minutes off the bench with the Jazz.
Hart out
Jason Hart missed his second consecutive game with a lower back injury.
Ronnie Price filled in for Hart as the backup point guard behind Deron Williams. Price had played only 16 minutes all January before stepping into the rotation after Hart's injury.
Eight is enough?
As much as he would like to play everybody, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan noted that minutes are getting harder to come by. Jarron Collins missed his first games in nearly two years Friday and Sunday while C.J. Miles had played 26 minutes the last five games.
"In this business, you look at most of the teams that are playing night in and night out, they're playing eight guys,'' Sloan said. "So it's difficult and I understand the plight that [the players] feel like they're in."
rsiler@sltrib.com
When he was traded to Utah at the end of December, Kyle Korver was surprised to say the least. He'd heard of a handful of teams interested in acquiring him, but the Jazz weren't one of them.
The San Antonio Spurs, on the other hand, were one of those teams (along with Miami) and Korver said Monday the possibility of playing for the defending NBA champions was intriguing when he first learned of it.
"Everybody thinks real highly of the Spurs,'' Korver said. "If you're any kind of basketball player at all, that's the type of team you want to be involved with. But I feel like there's a lot of similarities between here and there.
"We haven't won the championships that they have, but I feel like we're headed in that direction and I'm glad to be here."
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich praised Korver as not just a "great shooter" but also a "tough kid" and "physical player" who couldn't fit better with the Jazz system. Popovich called it a "fine addition."
Although he made just 1 of 5 three-pointers Monday, Korver hit the one the Jazz needed in the final minute to go up 95-89. One question is if Korver can appreciate the Jazz's 10-2 January since he wasn't around for the 5-11 December.
"To me, I've got a whole lot of confidence in this team,'' Korver said, "and this team's toughness and this team's character and all that. I feel like we're a really good basketball team. We all expected to win the game tonight and that's a really cool thing to be a part of."
Defense first
The Jazz set the tone defensively in the first quarter, holding the Spurs to 19 points and forcing six turnovers. They stripped Tim Duncan three times and also took advantage of another three Tony Parker turnovers.
"You can't really go one-on-one with him and expect to win," Korver said of Duncan, "so we tried to crowd him a little bit and we were able to get some deflections and steals. He still had 26 points, so it's not like we shut him down, but we did all right."
Briefly
Jason Hart missed his second consecutive game with a lower back injury. Hart was at the arena but unavailable to comment. . . . Matt Harpring suffered a thigh bruise in the fourth quarter. . . . There were enough fresh memories from the Western Conference finals that Jazz fans loudly booed Manu Ginobili when he entered the game. Ginobili led all players with 29 points, 16 in the fourth quarter.
Defense wins games
The Jazz force the Spurs into 19 turnovers. They steal the ball 15 times on their way to the win.
Taking back the division
With the win, Utah finds itself in first place of the Northwest division for the first time in the new year. The Denver Nuggets lost to the New Orleans Hornets, and Portland was idle.
The reserves
The Jazz bench came up huge in the final minute of play, with Kyle Korver, left, hitting a three-pointer, his only one of the game, to put Utah up by five points. Matt Harpring then hit a jumper from the corner to put the game out of reach.
rsiler@sltrib.com
