Jazz UPDATE

I realize I haven't written since the great series clinching win against the Rockets last Sat. Since that time they have gone up 2-1 against the Golden State Warriors with both games in Salt Lake becoming instant classics. Note:I, along with others, predicted a game 3 rout in Oakland. It should and better be closer tonight.
My comments in this post will be about Game 2, arguably one of the great playoff games ever, certainly one of the great Jazz playoff games.

Derek Fisher is a guy like Robert Horry who will go down as great clutch shooters and big time gamers. They are guys you love to have on your team and hate to face, but don't have as big of a name or stardom as most of the players around them. So when Fisher missed game 1 and the Jazz won I was happy, but felt we would need him to win the series. At this point all that had been reported was that he was having family issues. There was no more explanation than that, although there was plenty of conjecture. I will add he wasn't at the stadium at the start of game 2, he was put on the active roster, and was rumored to be doing all he could to get to the game before it finished.

That is the set-up, here is what happened. Deron Williams got two quick fouls, I mean quick, within the first minute of the game. No Fisher, no problem, in comes Dee Brown. Dee played real well in game 1, so I figured he would be allright, he was until Mehmet Okur fell on top of his neck and he had to leave the arena on a strecher. It looked real bad, luckily he is okay. So AK 47 the most inconsistent Jazz player this year was stuck playing point, he did okay and the Jazz survived. Paul Millsap was incredible for the part he was in and it was a close game the whole way. We get to the end of the 3rd quarter and Derek Fisher arrives with 5 security guards walking next to him as if they are as important to him. He got on the bike and warmed up, note he didn't get any warmup shots. The game was close but the Warriors led by five with a minute to go. The final minute included the Warriors missing free throws, Derek Fisher playing Baron Davis and making him turn the ball over, Memo hitting a crazy shot from the corner with a guy in his face, and Deron Williams nailing the game tying shot from the junction. I knew the Jazz would win in OT and so did everyone including the Warriors. They were dejected after losing the lead and allowing the Jazz to tie a game they should have won. OT was ugly for them and beautiful for the Jazz. The story though was Fisher. Turns out he flew in from New York where his daughter had been diagnosed with eye cancer. After a successful surgery he made it to the game. This was every reason I love sports, it had all the drama with the good guys winning. Truly one of my favorite games ever.
Here are the highlights

Here are stories on Derek Fisher: http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_5869708 and