Jazz Passes Another Rehearsal

All week, they’ve run drills, worked out and watched tape. The Utah Jazz players insist they’re ready for the NBA finals.

Now, if they only knew which team they were playing. Then the Jazz could turn to the matter that has preoccupied the team all season.

“We made it to this point last year, and that wasn’t good enough,” Karl Malone said. “We haven’t done nothing yet. I’m looking forward to the finals, and nothing else.”

When the clock ran out on the Lakers, the Jazz showed none of the excitement from last season, when the team won its first Western Conference championship.

Coach Jerry Sloan, for one, didn’t crack a smile when he left the Forum court.

“I never heard anybody say we weren’t supposed to be happy,” Sloan said. “There’s a tremendous amount of enthusiasm in all of us, but we’ve always been pretty businesslike. A lot of people talked about the way we left, but it never even entered my mind.”

This no-nonsense approach has carried over to Utah’s workouts this week.

“It’s not like we were perfect and we didn’t have anything to work on,” Sloan said. “We still need practice on offense and defense.”

Utah averaged 101 points a game during the season but has scored nearly 93 points a game during the playoffs. That average is skewed by a 64-point effort in Game 3 of the conference semifinals against San Antonio.

“We’re not scoring a whole lot of points,” Sloan said.

The Jazz has won 10 of its last 11 games largely through defense. Utah is giving up only 86 points a game in the playoffs, down from 94 during the season. Opponents are shooting 41% in the playoffs and only 25% on three-point baskets.

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Portland Trail Blazer forward Brian Grant underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder Friday to repair a partially torn rotator cuff.

The surgery was performed in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal El Attrache, the Trail Blazers said.

The team said Grant was doing well and will begin rehabilitation immediately. He is expected to be ready for the start of training camp on Oct. 6.

He averaged 12.1 points and 9.1 rebounds last season.