At first glance, a game Friday against the 10-35 Thunder seems like the perfect cure for Utah's season-high four-game losing streak. But the Jazz can't help but remember the crushing 114-93 loss they suffered in Oklahoma City on Jan. 14.
"They beat the mess out of us last time," Ronnie Brewer said. "People always say you can pencil a win in. I mean, it's the NBA. I don't think they let any bums in the NBA, last I checked. They've got talented players, guys who put up huge numbers." The Thunder's victory over the Jazz was their first over a winning team all season. They no longer own the NBA's worst record and have won seven of their last 13 games, although they are still only 3-18 on the road this season.
The Jazz's losing streak, meanwhile, has coincided with the loss of Andrei Kirilenko because of a recurrence of right ankle discomfort. Kirilenko received a third cortisone shot Monday and will know by the end of the week if he will need surgery.
The timing couldn't have been worse, with the Jazz already missing Carlos Boozer and facing games at Houston, home against Cleveland, at Denver and home against San Antonio.
"We feel like if we're going to be one of the top teams, we've got to win some of them games, man," Brewer said. "We've just got to keep on playing hard and making some little adjustments and we'll be there too."
SPURS 106, JAZZ 100: The Jazz tried to play catch up in the last eight minutes. They closed within a point with 1:34 to play before Manu Ginobili cut for a layup, came up with a steal and converted his free throws. He ended up scoring 10 of the Spurs' final 12 points. Tim Duncan had 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Matt Bonner hit six 3-pointers and scored 20 points for the Spurs.
