Read more: Not even close: Utah Jazz get hammered and humiliated in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO — The Utah Jazz locker room in the AT&T Center was a rather subdued place Wednesday night.

As you might expect following a drubbing the likes of the one the Jazz suffered — 114-83 to the San Antonio Spurs.

But on their way out of the Alamo City with a double-digit blowout loss for the second time this week, the Jazz claimed that this Western Conference first-round series is not yet over.

And, yes, they even believe they can get it to last past the two games in Salt Lake City on Saturday and Monday.

Center Al Jefferson admitted the Spurs have every right to be as confident as can be after beating the Jazz by a combined 46 points, but he isn’t giving up hope.

“I think we could get our swagger. We just gotta not talk about it, we gotta deliver,” Big Al said. “We got to go out with the energy and find a way to do it.”

Paul Millsap said the Jazz have to leave all remnants of this 31-point shellacking in San Antonio, and that’s the general feeling of his teammates.

“It’s kind of easy to do. Blowouts are usually the ones easy to forget,” Jazz point guard Devin Harris said. “Obviously, we thought we had a solid game plan. Things didn’t really work out, so we kind of scrap this one and it’s back to the drawing board.”

The hard part for Utah is the fact that Wednesday’s loss wasn’t the result of huge games by the Big Three of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Sure, Parker scored 18 with nine assists, and Duncan chipped in with 13 rebounds and 12 points.

But the Spurs were sparked by Kawhi Leonard (17 points) and Danny Green (13 points), of all players.

“They were hitting shots. We weren’t,” Jazz shooting guard Gordon Hayward said. “They went on a big, huge run (20-0 in the second quarter). From then on, it was just downhill for us. But we’ve got to put this one behind us and go home ready to fight.”

The Jazz are hoping they’ll draw energy and emotion — and perhaps their shots — from a pumped-up home crowd Saturday night at EnergySolutions Arena. Utah had one of the top home records at the league this season at 25-8.

“It’s two tough losses, but we play a lot better in our building and with our fans,” Hayward said. “We’re going home fighting for our lives, ready to compete.”

Read more: Not even close: Utah Jazz get hammered and humiliated in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO — Whatever. Wherever. Whenever.

Which isn’t necessarily a good philosophy.

In their 114-83 loss to San Antonio in Game 2 of the playoffs, the Jazz settled for whatever shots they could get — which wasn’t much. They took quick shots and missed from mid-range, but also forced shots inside that didn’t work. That was partially due to a San Antonio team that was on its way to a phenomenal-shooting night (57 percent). Then there were the Jazz, who were flummoxed by the Spurs’ collapsing defense.

Almost nobody on the Jazz shot well in the embarrassing defeat. They finished just 31-of-90 from the field (34.4). But in the first half they were particularly bad, making just 11 of 47 tries (23 percent). By then they were hopelessly behind (53-28).

Overall, it was every team’s nightmare — missing nearly every attempt and having the opponent make nearly every try. The only Jazz players to make half their shots were Blake Ahearn (2-of-3), Enes Kanter (4-of-8) and DeMarre Carroll (2-of-3).

But the troubles started with center Al Jefferson, who missed five of his first six shots, mostly on contested jump-hooks, and most of them a shade too far out for comfort.

Jefferson said Spurs guard Tony Parker faked dropping down for the double-team, “making me think he’s coming so (he) can force me into rushing my shot. Good defensive play.”

“They were very aggressive and played hard,” said Parker. “It was different from Game 1, but they were not shooting the ball well. Defensively, I thought we played pretty good and we matched their energy.”

From the onset, the pattern was set. While the Jazz failed to penetrate effectively, the Spurs patiently worked the ball inside or kicked out to open shooters such as Kawhi Leonard, who made six of seven shots for 17 points.

Asked if it was San Antonio’s defense or the Jazz’s shot selection that did them in early in the game, Jefferson said, “Both, probably. Most definitely it was their defense. Their defense makes us take bad shots.”

Veteran guard Jamaal Tinsley was unsurprised with San Antonio’s approach.

“That’s what they make you do,” he said. “They put you in tough situations and you’ve got to fight hard to help each other take easy shots, instead of taking contested or bad shots.”

email: rock@desnews.com Twitter: therockmonster Facebook: rockmonsterunplugged

Read more: Not even close: Utah Jazz get hammered and humiliated in San Antonio

Since their loss on Sunday, the Utah Jazz spoke about making adjustments in their second game vs. the San Antonio Spurs. Suffice it to say, the young Jazz will be back to the drawing board once again after the Spurs administered a 114-83 drubbing that left Utah down 0-2 in their first round series.

Balanced Brilliance: San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich, freshly anointed this year’s NBA Coach of the Year, coaxed excellent performances out of his entire roster. Ten Spurs played between 14 and 28 minutes, while eight players tallied between 10 and 18 points. Surprisingly, Manu Ginobili was not one of those eight individuals.

Every San Antonio player who saw the court, with the exception of notorious Jazz killer Matt Bonner, scored and had at least one assist.

Conversely, the Utah Jazz players were balanced in their shortcomings. Ten of the 12 Jazzmen who played shot less than 50 percent on their shots. Only two players put double-digit points on the board.

Bombs Away: San Antonio was the best 3-point shooting team in the regular season, so their 10-22 performance from long distance was par for the course. They made them early and helped doom the Jazz by the end of the first half. Spurs swingmen Danny Green (3-5) and Kawhi Leonard (3-4) led the barrage, hitting many wide open looks.

Utah, on the other hand, was a paltry 1-6 (16.7 percent), with the lone make not coming until the game’s waning moments.

Numbers Don’t Lie: Every team will suffer a demoralizing defeat and this was the epitome of a blowout. In addition to the aforementioned, these glaring statistics will help tell the rest of the story:

• Utah had almost as many turnovers (15) as assists (16). Meanwhile, the Spurs dished out 28 dimes compared to just 12 miscues.
• San Antonio won the first three quarters by 11, 14 and nine points, respectively.
• Every Spur starter had a plus/minus of at least +31, with midseason signee Boris Diaw sporting a sparkling +41 mark. As could be expected, their Jazz starting counterparts were all at least -31.
• San Antonio’s opening five shot a combined 27-41 (65.9 percent), while the Jazz starters managed just 17-52 (32.7 percent).
• The Spurs won the rebounding (44-43), steals (10-7) and blocked shot (5-3) battles.
• The more veteran Spurs outperformed the youthful Utah squad in fast break points, 29-18.

Luckily for the Utah Jazz, all these numbers culminate in just one loss. The two teams will be back at it Saturday evening in the EnergySolutions Arena.

David Smith provides instant analysis for Deseret News’ Utah Jazz coverage. He works for LDS Philanthropies and also blogs for the Utah Jazz 360 website. He can be reached at mechakucha1@gmail.com or on Twitter at davidjsmith1232.

SAN ANTONIO — Game 4 of the 1998 NBA Finals has a 21st century rival for worst game in Utah Jazz playoff history.

The Jazz were hounded, hammered and humiliated by the San Antonio Spurs — and that was just the first half at the AT&T Center.

When the final buzzer finally blared its merciful sound, the Jazz were on the extremely short end of a 114-83 rout in Game 2. The Spurs will take a 2-0 series lead into Utah for Game 3 on Saturday.

Utah fell behind quickly, missing its first seven shots en route to an early 17-4 deficit.

It got better for the Jazz momentarily — but then it got much, much, MUCH worse.

Derrick Favors and Paul Millsap led a temporary charge as the Jazz cut the Spurs’ lead to five at 31-26.

In order, Favors and then the Jazz were taken out of the game.

After Favors exited and Al Jefferson entered, San Antonio went on a massive 20-0 run, hitting four 3-pointers and simply blowing the Jazz out of the building.

Remember the Alamo?

More like, forget the AT&T Center.

Things didn’t get any better in the second half. The Spurs outscored Utah 34-25 in the third quarter, adding another bucket of salt to this open wound.

It wasn’t the Big Three that doomed Utah, either.

Early on, when it mattered most, it was the Tiny Two of Danny Green (13 first-half points) and Kawhi Leonard (12 of his 17 in the opening half) who did the most early damage.

Seven Spurs ended up in double figures, led by Tony Parker’s 18 points and nine assists.

Utah shot 23.4 percent from the field through the first two quarters and finished with still-dismal 34.4 percent shooting.

Only two Jazz players hit double figures — Josh Howard and Big Al with 10 points apiece.

The Jazz scored 17 points in the first quarter and just 11 in the second.

And about that 1998 Finals game? The Jazz were blown out of that championship series game 14 years ago, 96-54.

Perhaps giving Jazz fans some hope, Utah did play better in Game 4 (losing by four) and actually won Game 5 in Chicago.

EMAIL: jody@desnews.com

TWITTER: DJJazzyJody

SAN ANTONIO — If there is one surprising, entertaining thing the Utah Jazz did all season, it was block shots. Hundreds of them. The 385 swats they executed caused Deseret News beat writer Jody Genessy to nickname the Jazz’s hometown “Swat Lake City.”

That is good stuff. Clever. Dunks are great, wrap-around passes marvelous, but there’s a singular thrill to watching someone slap a shot into the $20 seats.

Such plays have become a big part of the Jazz’s persona. They finished the regular season fourth in the league in blocks. On Sunday, the Jazz rejected eight Spurs shots in Game 1 of their postseason series.

That’s all fine and good, because the Jazz have benefited from having players like Al Jefferson, Enes Kanter, Paul Millsap and Derrick Favors, whose length and size have fashioned a towering fortress of sorts. Their message: Don’t bring that in here or we’ll mail it back and reverse the charges.

But as the Jazz approach Wednesday’s Game 2 of the playoffs against San Antonio, you have to ask: Why are people getting that close to the rim in the first place?

Blocking shots is good, because it’s a team’s last line of defense. The problem is that opponents are driving or passing deep inside the forbidden zone, or this wouldn’t be happening. Despite their blocks, the Jazz were only 23rd in the NBA in scoring defense this season.

In Sunday’s loss, Utah allowed 48 points to be scored within five feet of the basket — the most in a playoff game in the last two seasons. The Jazz rejected some shots, but San Antonio was shooting a nice 48 percent, largely because it was getting mid-range and up-close attempts. The Spurs outscored the Jazz 58-44 in the paint and 13-5 on second-chance scoring, zipping past the Jazz defense like racers past a checkered flag.

The Jazz set up a perimeter and the Spurs breached it with impunity. All too often, Tony Parker not only passed Devin Harris or Jamaal Tinsley at the arc, but when he went down the lane, no one was there to make him pull back out.

What should the Jazz do, string up a fence?

Harris suggested that in Game 2 the Jazz “limit his layups and maybe give him a hard foul or two.”

That didn’t happen on Sunday. Nobody so much as looked crossly at him. Others, too, got to the rim unmolested. Tim Duncan, Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson dunked, and about the only guy who failed was Manu Ginobili, who twanged one off the back of the rim, much to the delight of his teammates.

The Utah Jazz are back in the playoffs, and beat writer Jody Genessy is on the road in San Antonio covering all the action. Join our live question-and-answer session with Jody at 12 p.m. MT on Wednesday and ask about the team’s chances against the Spurs, the future of the franchise, and anything else NBA-related that’s on your mind.

SAN ANTONIO — Tony Parker isn’t sure if the Utah Jazz will kidnap him before Game 2 tips off, as teammate Stephen Jackson jokingly suggested the underdogs’ best defensive option might be.

Parker didn’t hire Jean-Claude Van Damme or any other bodyguards just in case.

But the Spurs’ star point guard expects the Jazz to try about everything aside from taking him prisoner (and maybe stashing him in the Alamo’s basement?).

Parker anticipates, as Jazz point guard Devin Harris hinted, that Utah will play him more physically.

He wouldn’t be surprised if the Jazz attack the pick-and-roll harder and attempt to clog the paint to thwart his drives.

The crafty 6-foot-2 playmaker guesses they might try to trap him, even throw 6-8 Gordon Hayward or bigger guys at him, anything aside from abduction, to keep him from going off and scoring 28 points and dishing out eight assists like he did in Sunday’s 106-91 Game 1 win.

As he might say en francais: “Ete la, fait que les.”

Translation: Been there, done that.

“I’ve been doing that all season long,” Parker said after Wednesday’s practice. “I saw every type of defense. … I’ll be ready.”

So, too, will the other 10 guys the Spurs have on their roster who can come to his aid and help bury the Jazz — from his Big Three partners Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili to the deep bench 2011-12 NBA coach of the year Gregg Popovich has at his beckoning call.

“Whatever they (the Jazz) do, I have to be smart to adapt,” Parker said. “If they want to take me out of the game, I have to make sure I get Timmy involved and Manu involved and all the other guys. That’s why we have a deep team. It’s not only on me, it’s on everybody.”

The Jazz experienced that to some degree on Sunday.

Stephen Jackson, reunited with the Spurs in a midseason trade, came off the bench to score 14 points. Matt Bonner hit three punch-in-the-gut 3-pointers. Boris Diaw scored nine points. Plus, Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Gary Neal and DeJuan Blair are all capable contributors. Even Patty Mills can light it up if he gets in.

San Antonio’s 6-foot-11 Tiago Splitter is doubtful for Wednesday’s game with a bruised bone in his left wrist, which hurts the Spurs’ post player depth chart. But the No. 1 seed remains deep, even if it isn’t as big anymore.

“That’s why we’re dangerous, because everybody can have a big night,” Parker said. “I think we’re going to play like that (lots of players) the whole playoffs.”

SAN ANTONIO — If there is one surprising, entertaining thing the Utah Jazz did all season, it was block shots. Hundreds of them. The 385 swats they executed caused Deseret News beat writer Jody Genessy to nickname the Jazz’s hometown “Swat Lake City.”

That is good stuff. Clever. Dunks are great, wrap-around passes marvelous, but there’s a singular thrill to watching someone slap a shot into the $20 seats.

Such plays have become a big part of the Jazz’s persona. They finished the regular season fourth in the league in blocks. On Sunday, the Jazz rejected eight Spurs shots in Game 1 of their postseason series.

That’s all fine and good, because the Jazz have benefited from having players like Al Jefferson, Enes Kanter, Paul Millsap and Derrick Favors, whose length and size have fashioned a towering fortress of sorts. Their message: Don’t bring that in here or we’ll mail it back and reverse the charges.

But as the Jazz approach Wednesday’s Game 2 of the playoffs against San Antonio, you have to ask: Why are people getting that close to the rim in the first place?

Blocking shots is good, because it’s a team’s last line of defense. The problem is that opponents are driving or passing deep inside the forbidden zone, or this wouldn’t be happening. Despite their blocks, the Jazz were only 23rd in the NBA in scoring defense this season.

In Sunday’s loss, Utah allowed 48 points to be scored within five feet of the basket — the most in a playoff game in the last two seasons. The Jazz rejected some shots, but San Antonio was shooting a nice 48 percent, largely because it was getting mid-range and up-close attempts. The Spurs outscored the Jazz 58-44 in the paint and 13-5 on second-chance scoring, zipping past the Jazz defense like racers past a checkered flag.

The Jazz set up a perimeter and the Spurs breached it with impunity. All too often, Tony Parker not only passed Devin Harris or Jamaal Tinsley at the arc, but when he went down the lane, no one was there to make him pull back out.

What should the Jazz do, string up a fence?

Harris suggested that in Game 2 the Jazz “limit his layups and maybe give him a hard foul or two.”

That didn’t happen on Sunday. Nobody so much as looked crossly at him. Others, too, got to the rim unmolested. Tim Duncan, Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson dunked, and about the only guy who failed was Manu Ginobili, who twanged one off the back of the rim, much to the delight of his teammates.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin announced Tuesday morning that he will stick with the same starting lineup on Wednesday night that he used in Game 1 of his team’s playoff series-opener against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

That means veteran forward Josh Howard, who missed more than a month of the season with a knee injury that required surgery, will start Game 2 at San Antonio ahead of DeMarre Carroll, who joined the team in February and moved into the starting lineup for the final nine games of the regular season.

Howard went scoreless in Sunday’s 106-91 series-opening loss to the Spurs, going 0-for-4 from the field with four rebounds, an assist and a steal. The 6-foot-7 small forward had returned to the Jazz lineup last week, appearing in Utah’s final two games of the regular season as a reserve and scoring 12 points with six rebounds in the season-finale against the Portland Trail Blazers.

“He missed some shots, but I thought defensively he did a pretty good job,” Corbin said of Howard’s performance in Game 1 of the playoffs. “His shot was flat, but here again he’s getting back. I thought he played well the last game of the season and his rhythm was coming back; he just didn’t score in the game (Sunday).

“I thought because of (his playoff experience) and he had a good game the other night (in the regular-season finale against Portland), I thought he was over the hump with his injury. So we could use him at the beginning of the game, especially as intense as the situation was going to be down there, and he would be comfortable in it.”

Carroll wound up coming off the bench in Sunday’s game and scoring seven points on 3-of-8 shooting. Like Howard, he also had four rebounds and an assist, along with a blocked shot.

Howard, a nine-year NBA veteran who has logged more playoff minutes than any other player on this year’s Jazz roster, is hoping his worst game of the postseason is behind him now.

“I think the more time I get on the court, the better it will be for me,” he said. “But I have to work with what time is giving to me.

“I’m going to do my best when I’m out there on the court. Other than that, we’ve just got to keep trying to get wins or get a win to make us feel comfortable in this series.

“I was a little nervous yesterday, too,” Howard admitted, reflecting on Sunday’s series-opener at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. “I had to take a couple of deep breaths before that jump ball, but after we ran up and down the court about two or three times, I was fine.”

Howard also said that playing on the road in a hostile environment will help this young team grow up a lot, and that playing against tough teams like the Spurs in a playoff series “is going to help these guys a lot, and it’s a great experience at the end of the day.”

Email: rhollis@desnews.com

Read more: www.deseretnews.com/article/865554895/San-Antonio-Spurs-give-Utah-Jazz-inhospitable-reception-in-playoff-return.html

The two teams pitted against each other Sunday played their roles nearly perfectly. The San Antonio Spurs looked every bit the hottest team in the league, while the Utah Jazz battled, but could not keep up with their opponent. The Spurs enjoyed a fairly easy victory, winning 106-91 to take the 1-0 lead in the series.

The Big Three: They have been doing it longer than their counterpart trios in Boston and Miami. The San Antonio threesome of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili continues to excel. Duncan finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists — all while anchoring the stout Spur defense.

Parker sliced and diced his way to game-high totals of 28 points and eight assists. He was able to effectively run the pick-and-roll, creating scoring opportunities for his teammates and for himself. He orchestrated a 106-point effort, which was actually a decrease from the Spurs’ recent offensive performances.

Finally, Ginobili was quieter, but his heady leadership was vital toward the victory. He had a pair of nice dunks and his passing helped stop some mini-Utah runs.

Impact of Changes: Both Utah and San Antonio made adjustments in their starting lineups. One was successful; the other was the opposite.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich went with Boris Diaw in the opening five. While his numbers do not pop out of the stat sheet — nine points and five rebounds in 26 minutes — the veteran’s passing acumen helped spread the ball around by inserting another facilitator at the start the game. Diaw also looked more spry than he has in awhile, making a few impressive forays to the hoop. He had a plus/minus of plus-12.

Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin, meanwhile, opted to go with forward Josh Howard ahead of DeMarre Carroll. Howard was a mere two games removed from injuries that caused him to sit out for weeks, while the surprising Carroll was integral to the Utah playoff push. Howard looked out of synch, missing all four of his shots en route to a scoreless, two-turnover stint. His plus/minus was minus-9 in 16 minutes.

Experience Toward a Brighter Day: One of the biggest benefits of the Jazz earning a postseason berth is the important experience their young core players will earn. All four of Utah’s promising players saw solid playing time, and for the most part, seemed up to the playoff challenge.

San Antonio • Tony Parker burned Devin Harris. Gregg Popovich outmaneuvered Tyrone Corbin. The Spurs outmanned the Jazz. And Utah already has major adjustments to make, just one contest into its first-round playoff series against San Antonio.

The eighth-seeded Jazz fell 106-91 to the No. 1 Spurs during Game 1 of a Western Conference matchup Sunday at AT&T Center.

Utah held a 13-12 advantage with 5 minutes and 54 seconds left in the first quarter. The rest belonged San Antonio.

The Jazz never led again, and everyone from Parker to Popovich reminded Utah that postseason basketball — even during a lockout-compressed year — is an entirely different world from the regular season.

“We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to be more sharp and determined to run off and make sure we get to the spots that we want to,” Corbin said. “[The Spurs] are experienced guys. They are physical. They are going to try and knock you off everything.”

San Antonio did just that.

Running 10 players during key situations and constantly keeping the Jazz in a reactionary mode, the Spurs dictated rotations and lineups while calmly controlling the tempo.

Parker guided the smooth attack, recording game-highs in points (28) and assists (8), and receiving “MVP” chants as he sank 8 of 10 attempts from the free throw line.

“He’s the reason we’ve been successful thus far this season. He continued that [Sunday],” Popovich said. “He’s had a wonderful year. He’s been very focused and did another good job.”

Tim Duncan added 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, leaving an outmatched Al Jefferson to say he doesn’t know why people refer to his opponent as being old.

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With veteran reserve small forward Stephen Jackson serving as Game 1’s X-factor — 14 points, two made 3-pointers, four rebounds — Utah was often left scrambling and seldom appeared capable of surviving the first round.

Paul Millsap scored a team-high 20 points for the Jazz, while Gordon Hayward added 17 and made all 12 of his free throws during his playoff debut. But Jefferson never came close to taking over, Utah committed 16 turnovers, and only three Jazz players scored more than nine points for a team that shot just 42.1 percent from the field.

Utah’s Game 1 takeaway message: This isn’t going be easy. At all.

The Jazz rolled into the playoffs, winning five consecutive games to wrestle the No. 8 seed from Phoenix. But Utah’s top three players — Millsap, Jefferson, Harris — either haven’t played significant roles in the postseason or haven’t been in the playoffs in years. With the Jazz relying on four players 22 or younger, Utah’s inexperience was exposed by Popovich’s Spurs.

A franchise that’s won four NBA titles since 1999 and is coached by a likely future Hall of Famer set the agenda and never looked back Sunday.

The Jazz will make adjustments with a three-day break before Game 2 Wednesday in San Antonio. But so will the Spurs. And while Utah’s just trying to survive the first round, Popovich is eyeing his second title during a lockout year.

“You’ve got to beat this team. They’re not going to give anything away. You’ve got to go out there and take it,” Harris said. “Obviously, they did what they’re supposed to do. They executed well, they played well. We’ve got to come out with a better effort on Wednesday.”

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Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The 2012 Utah Jazz playoff schedule begins on Sunday, April 29 against the No. 1 seeded San Antonio Spurs. It’s definitely an unenviable match-up that the Jazz got dealt in the first round of the 2012 Western Conference Playoffs, but don’t tell the loyal fans in Utah.

Playing against the team with the best record in the NBA (Spurs at 50-16) won’t seem easy, but Utah has a lot of size to work with. The team did beat the Spurs on April 9 (91-84), but also lost the first three games that the teams played this season.

Game 1 of the series takes place on Sunday morning (April 29) for the Jazz, with ESPN giving live coverage. Game 2 is also in San Antonio, played on May 2, before the teams head to Utah for Game 3 and Game 4.

2012 Utah Jazz Playoff Schedule

Game 1 - Sun. April 29, Utah at San Antonio, 11 a.m. MT, (ESPN)

Game 2 - Wed. May 2, Utah at San Antonio, 5 p.m. MT, (TNT)

Game 3 - Sat. May 5, San Antonio at Utah, 8 p.m. MT, (TNT)

Game 4 - Mon. May 7, San Antonio at Utah, TBD

Game 5 * Wed. May 9, Utah at San Antonio, TBD

Game 6 * Fri. May 11, San Antonio at Utah, TBD

Game 7 * Sun. May 13, Utah at San Antonio, TBD

Source:

Jazz Team Page

For the second year in a row, the San Antonio Spurs will open the postseason with the Western Conference‘s top seed. The Spurs hope that the first seed will take them much deeper in the playoffs this time around.

San Antonio will open the 2012 NBA Playoffs against the eighth-seeded Utah Jazz. After a one-year hiatus, Utah will return to the postseason and try to follow the footsteps that the Memphis Grizzlies laid last April.

The Spurs fell to the Grizzlies in the first round of last season’s playoffs to become just the second number one seed to fall to a number eight seed in a seven-game series. San Antonio will begin this year’s playoff run exactly one year after last season’s elimination game. The Spurs hope to avoid that embarrassment this year.

Utah has the tools–perimeter athleticism along with a sizeable front line–to follow Memphis’ blueprint and potentially pull off the upset. However, this year the Spurs are going into the playoffs with something that they did not have last season against the Grizzlies–a healthy Manu Ginobili.

San Antonio Spurs versus Utah Jazz Western Conference First-Round Schedule

Game 1: Sunday, April 29, Utah Jazz at San Antonio Spurs, 1:00 p.m. ET on ESPN

Game 2: Wednesday, May 2, Utah Jazz at San Antonio Spurs, 7:00 p.m. ET on TNT

Game 3: Saturday, May 5, San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz, 10:00 p.m. ET on TNT

Game 4: Monday, May 7, San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz, TBD

Game 5: Wednesday, May 9, Utah Jazz at San Antonio Spurs, TBD (if necessary)

Game 6: Friday, May 11, San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz, TBD (if necessary)

Game 7: Sunday, May 13, Utah Jazz at San Antonio Spurs, TBD (if necessary)

San Antonio comes into the postseason with their Big Three of Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker all healthy because Gregg Popovich did a great job of managing their minutes during the compacted 66-game regular season. None of them played in more than 60 games and only Parker (who is the youngest of the three) averaged more than 30 minutes per game. As long as the Spurs remain healthy, they will have a chance at going on an extended playoff run.

With 10 days remaining in the season, the Jazz were in an intense battle with the Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns for the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot. On April 17, Utah was on the outside looking in and trailed both the Rockets and Suns by half a game. The Jazz earned the eighth seed by winning their final four games while the Rockets and Suns combined for just three wins over the final 10 days of the season.

The Jazz have been in playoff mode for the past week and a half. Now that they are in the real postseason, they will have to elevate their level of play yet again, especially since they will be playing against a healthy and motivated San Antonio Spurs team that will be looking to erase the memories of last year’s postseason failure.

Prediction: Spurs 4-1

Mark is a lifelong fan of the NBA who has loved the game of basketball ever since his first trip to an NBA arena. Mark has watched more basketball games than anyone can count and has more than 100 articles about the NBA published on the internet. Mark also shares his random NBA musings and game-by-game predictions on RandomNBAFan.com.

More on the 2012 Playoffs:

2012 NBA Playoffs: Oklahoma City Thunder Vs. Dallas Mavericks Fan’s Preview

2012 NBA Playoffs: Indiana Pacers Vs. Orlando Magic Fan’s Preview

2012 NBA Playoffs: Miami Heat Vs. New York Knicks Fan’s Preview

2012 NBA Playoffs: Chicago Bulls Vs. Philadelphia 76ers Fan’s Preview

2012 NBA Season Awards and All-NBA Teams: Fan’s Take

Information from NBA.com’s 2012 Playoffs Schedule and ESPN.com’s San Antonio Spurs 2012 Statistics was used for this article.

The NBA season is winding down, and the Jazz are in the thick of the playoff race in the Western Conference. Join our Jazz beat writer Jody Genessy on Friday at 2 p.m. for a live question-and-answer session about the Jazz’s postseason chances, the team’s progress this season, and anything else Jazz-related that’s on your mind.

Check out this tidbit from Genessy’s Jazzland blog:

Tanking (see: Golden States mantra) has become a hot topic as this irregular season heads down the home stretch.

Shaquille ONeal even admitted that the Los Angeles Lakers participated in a version of it to avoid early playoff match-ups with the Utah Jazz.