The Jazz looked as good as they have all year last night beating the Spurs at the ESA. They have been solid all year, and it should come as no surprise that they won, but it was more what transpired in the win that was impressive than the win itself.

So what was the big surprise? The defense played by Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer against two players that last year would have eaten them alive. Before the game I wrote that the Jazz should play Brewer on Parker and AK on Duncan. It was totally unnecessary.

Williams vs. Parker
Williams has played solid defense all year, but Parker presents unique problems because of his quickness and shot selection. He is arguably the quickest player with the ball in the league, and the majority of his shots are floaters or layups. He just has a knack for scoring in the paint, despite his small frame. Last year he lead the league in points in the paint, the first guard to ever lead in that category.

But Deron was undeterred and stayed in front of him for the majority of the night, especially in the forth quarter. Parker finished the game with 14 points and 5 assists on 7-15 shooting. It was mostly unnoticed, but was a strong indicator of what kind of defensive player Williams is.

Boozer vs. Duncan
Duncan was killing the Jazz during the first 20 minutes of the game, getting whatever he wanted. Shortly after the Jazz switched Boozer over to guard Duncan he really cooled off. I am not sure exactly what Boozer was doing in order to cool Duncan off, but he was clearly in his head. It was almost like watching what Karl Malone used to do to David Robinson, he just muscled him and striped the ball numerous times. It was great.

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The Jazz won a tough game against a championship caliber team. Now it is on to the Lakeshow.