Jazz Warriors

This was a team victory.

But if you wanted to pass out some credit, you could start with Deron Williams. How he contained Baron Davis and led all players with 31 points, including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc.

You could credit Carlos Boozer with getting 20 rebounds, 10 on the offensive glass, including the biggest one with the putback with 17 seconds left.

You could credit Matt Harpring for securing the last rebound with 7 seconds left, and making both free throws for the win.

You could credit Mehmet Okur for hitting two long jumpers as part of a 7-2 run in the fourth.

But I'm going to credit Dee Brown.


After playing only 451 minutes in the regular season (5.5 per 82 games) and scoring 94 points all year, he came up with some big minutes and big points.

With 6 minutes to go in the game, the Jazz were down 4. Deron had to sit with his 5th foul, and the Warriors had the ball. It would be too easy for Golden State to go on a run, putting the game away.

Over the next minute and half, Dee was aggressive and scored 2 layups, drew the 5th foul on Baron Davis, and limited Baron to 3-point attempts that didn't fall.

Dee tied the game, so when Deron entered the game he didn't have to come from behind.

Brown only had 6 points overall, but those 4 were crucial when the Jazz needed him. I guess it didn't hurt that Bruce Weber was in the crowd watching.


By the way, ESPN states that Dee made $412,000 this year, more than the president. That's a lot. Although not as much as Deron's 3.8 million. Luther makes over a million and Augustine makes the same as Dee.