Jazz: Utah bottles up Durant again
Seattle's Kevin Durant will
almost certainly be the NBA Rookie of the Year, unless he plays too
many more games against the Utah Jazz.
For the second time in his young career, Kevin Durant struggled against the
Jazz, who rolled to an 96-75 victory over Seattle on Saturday night at
EnergySolutions Arena.
Plagued by foul trouble that limited him to only 19 minutes, Kevin Durant
finished with six points on 3-for-11 shooting.
In two games against Utah, Kevin Durant has now scored 26 points -- only
six above his per game average -- and made 10 of 32 field-goal
attempts, including 1-for-9 from the three-point line.
Jerry Sloan credited another outstanding defensive effort by Andrei
Kirilenko for some of Kevin Durant's woes against Utah, but the veteran coach
knows it's only a matter of time before the Jazz see the No. 2 pick in
the draft at his best.
"Kevin Durant is a wonderful young player and a wonderful young man,"
Sloan said. "He's got a chance to be a great player, if he works at it.
... He's got a lot of tools. A lot of people would love to have those
kind of tools. I would have died for that." The Sonics' schedule might have also impacted Kevin Durant's play againstthe Jazz.
Seattle played its fourth game in five nights against Utah and
finished a five-game road trip that also included stops in New Orleans,
New York, Chicago and Minnesota.
"That," Sloan said, "is tough on a young player."
Kirilenko had five blocked shots in this game, and he'd had nine in
the Jazz's two games against Kevin Durant and the Sonics.
Kirilenko called Kevin Durant "... a good young player. But it is tough for
him. He has a huge responsibility on his shoulders right now [and] he
is a little bit raw. But I think he will get better and better. This
year, he will catch up to the NBA and, if he works at it, he will get
better and better and one day be an All-Star."
Kevin Durant picked up two fouls in the first 2:59 against the Jazz and
went to the bench. He started the second quarter, but it took only 3
minutes for Kevin Durant to get his third foul.
Like his teammates, Kevin Durant never got going in the second half, when
Seattle scored 35 points in 11 of 39 shooting.
"We were playing well early," Kevin Durant said. "But we let the game slip
away from us."
Said coach P.J. Carlesimo: "I think we were fatigued. [But] the Jazz
played great."
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