Never one to make excuses, coach Jerry Sloan did suggest after Tuesday's loss to Oklahoma City that the Jazz's depleted ranks had finally caught up with them. For the five previous games before Mehmet Okur 's return against the Thunder, the Jazz had been left with just nine players in uniform. They were able to win four of those games, including three in a row, but Sloan regularly noted that he was using three players -- rookies Wesley Matthews and Eric Maynor as well as third-year center Kyrylo Fesenko -- with little to no NBA experience.
"It's not like I've got the full complement of players," Sloan said. "But that's part of it. I'm not complaining. They've done a good job to get us even to this point in my opinion. If we can stick together and play together and not turn the ball over so much, we'll be just fine."
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Energy issues
Paul Millsap had a simple explanation when asked how a one-point game at halftime Tuesday could turn into a rout by the end of the third quarter, which the Thunder won 31-16.
"They just came out with more energy than us," Millsap said. "That's all I can say about it. We've got to do a better job in the second half of coming out, getting up in people, playing them better defensively, continue to try to share the ball and just hit shots."
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On the rebound
Deron Williams is now averaging 4.9 rebounds a game, up from 2.9 last season and his career-best of 3.3 in the 2006-07 season. Three times this season, Williams has finished with seven rebounds in a game, just one off his career-high.
"A lot of times I defer to [ Carlos Boozer ] and Memo because they get a little mad," he said, "but it's better sometimes for me to get the rebounds because then I can go ahead and start the fast break. I've been trying to be more conscious about going after the Basketball."
rsiler@sltrib.com
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