SAN ANTONIO — What do the Jazz need to do in order to win, then? Keep Al Jefferson out of the game?

Following a three-point win over Philadelphia Friday night, Utah reverted back to the same poor play it had in its first two games of the year with the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver, and shot below 40 percent for the second time in four contests (including 2-of-16 from the 3-point line) in getting hammered, 104-89, by the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night in Texas.

Jefferson returned to the lineup after sitting out against the Sixers at EnergySolutions Arena.

GUARDS: Devin Harris continues to turn in sub-par performances. He scored eight points on just 2-of-8 shooting, while dishing out just three assists. Curiously, he shared time with Earl Watson, who was equally bad in going just 2-of-9 from the floor with no assists.

Raja Bell has yet to play great in any game, going scoreless in three attempts in 17 minutes Saturday, while C.J. Miles returned to inconsistency by scoring seven points on just 2-of-7 shooting. Meanwhile, San Antonio shooting guard Manu Ginobili was nearly flawless in scoring nearly as many points (23) as he logged minutes (24), while going 9-of-10 from the field. He simply ran around, shot over and backcut the listless Jazz guards whenever he actually was in the game. Really, no Jazz guard hardly played well at all. GRADE: D-

FORWARDS: Paul Millsap scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting with seven rebounds, but he really needs more shot attempts. Derrick Favors gave a mediocre performance in 23 minutes in his first effort off the bench this season, while Gordon Hayward probably gave his worst performance of the young season, going just 1-of-9 for four points. He tallied four assists and three rebounds. Former all-star Josh Howard scored 18 points, but it came on 6-of-16 shooting. Future Spurs hall-of-famer Tim Duncan was limited to a 4-of-13 effort. GRADE: C-

CENTERS: Jefferson did return with a decent offensive game in scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He and rookie Enes Kanter allowed DeJuan Blair to score 17 points on just eight field goal attempts. Kanter’s two rebounds mark the lowest rebounding game of his four-game NBA career. It remains to be seen if the Jazz will miss Mehmet Okur. GRADE: B-

BENCH: You know when you’re in trouble when Howard’s 6-of-16 effort leads the bench attack. Overall, the reserves shot just 16-of-43 from the field in going just 1-of-8 from the 3-point line. The saving grace? The Jazz bench outscored the San Antonio reserves 48-30. GRADE: C

The last time there was a lockout in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals to cap a 50-game regular season in 1998-99.

Tim Duncan was in his second season with the Spurs, but David Robinson and Sean Elliott were in their 10th seasons and Steve Kerr was in his 11th.

The Knicks had a similarly veteran team, led by Patrick Ewing in his 14th season, Larry Johnson in his eighth, Latrell Sprewell in his seventh and Allan Houston in his sixth.

So it would stand to reason that veteran teams like the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers or Miami Heat would have an edge in this shortened season, right?

Not necessarily, according to Cavaliers assistant coach Paul Pressey. He and Cavs assistant Joe Prunty were assistants on that San Antonio championship team. Asked for the key to the Spurs’ victory that season, Pressey smiled and said, “I thought we were lucky, right place right time, playing well at the right time.”

If luck is all it takes, that probably makes the shamrock-wearing Celtics the favorites. But older teams such as Boston know how to pace themselves throughout the regular season, even one as compacted as this one. Talented teams such as Miami that haven’t made a lot of changes don’t have to make a lot of adjustments.

Then again, shouldn’t teams with young stars and young legs – Derrick Rose’s Chicago Bulls or Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder, for example – have an advantage when teams basically will be playing every other night from now until late June? Teams such as the Celtics and Lakers are going to go through a lot of heating pads and Ben Gay from now until then, right?

“I don’t think injuries are going to be an issue,” NBA TV analyst Chris Webber said in a conference call with the media before the season started. “You really can’t predict who is going to get hurt.

“The biggest difference on who will have the advantage is how well the teams know each other.”

That would point to the Celtics and Lakers again. But don’t underestimate last season’s finalists – the Mavericks and Heat – or their conference final opponents – the Thunder and the Bulls in the West and East, respectively.

Of those six teams, the defending champion Mavericks made the most significant changes, losing free agents Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea, two big keys to the Mavericks’ victory.

“While it’s too early to tell who has the clear advantage, I will say that being a big fan of Dallas, I think they let the goods get away,” Webber said in the conference call. “I think that Tyson Chandler is a game-changer and he’s the only reason they won the championship last year.”

Some of the most interesting teams likely will be in the West, including the Los Angeles Clippers, the New Orleans Hornets and even the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Clippers, of course, got Chris Paul from the Hornets to team with high-flying Blake Griffin. The re-made Hornets got guard Eric Gordon, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and center Chris Kaman, along with a first-round draft choice.

Minnesota hired veteran coach Rick Adelman, who likely will bring some order to the talented-but-underachieving Wolves. Minnesota brought in first-round draft choice Derrick Williams, picked second overall behind the Cavs Kyrie Irving, to join Kevin Love, Michael Beasley and Barea, and 2009 first-round draft pick Ricky Rubio also will join the team for the first time.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mschmitt@plaind.com, 216-999-4668

On Twitter: @pdcavsinsider

Memphis, Tn – Following the most successful season in franchise history, the Memphis Grizzlies will tip-off their 11th season in Memphis (17th overall) with two rematches against Western Conference Playoff opponents. Fans who believed in the Grizzlies during last season’s NBA Playoffs can relive the team’s first-round upset of the San Antonio Spurs and the thrilling, seven-game semifinals series with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Memphis will open it’s 66-game regular season in San Antonio on Monday, Dec. 26 at 7:30 p.m. (all times Central) at the AT&T Center, followed the home opener against Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. at FedExForum.

Memphis will be featured on national television a franchise-record 10 times this season (three on ESPN, two on TNT, five on NBA TV), including the 10th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Game against the Chicago Bulls on ESPN on Monday, Jan. 16 at Noon at FedExForum. The Grizzlies also are slated for nationally-televised home tilts with the New York Knicks on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. on TNT and the Utah Jazz on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Starting with the home opener versus Oklahoma City, Memphis will play seven of its first 12 contests at FedExForum, including a four-game home stand (Jan. 10-16) which will feature the return of the Thunder on Tuesday, Jan. 10, the New York Knicks’ only visit to the Bluff City on Thursday, Jan. 12 and the MLK Jr. Day Game on Jan. 16 against Chicago. This marks the second consecutive year and third in the past five that Memphis will host Chicago in the MLK Jr. Day Game.

The Grizzlies will welcome the reigning NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks to Memphis twice this season, on Wednesday, Feb. 29 and then on Saturday, April 7. FedExForum will also host several other marquee matchups throughout the season, including when the Los Angeles Lakers (March 13) and the Los Angeles Clippers (April 9) make their only visits to Memphis. The Grizzlies will close out the regular season with a Fan Appreciation Night home finale versus the Orlando Magic on Thursday, April 26.

The Grizzlies will also play host to two back-to-back home series this season. The first will feature two Western Conference Playoff teams from last year, the Spurs (Jan. 30) and Denver Nuggets (Jan. 31). The second will include the return of the Nuggets (Feb. 17) and the Golden State Warriors (Feb. 18). In their only back-to-back-to-back series this season, the Grizzlies will travel to take on Oklahoma City (April 2), return home to play Golden State (April 3) and hit the road again to face Dallas (April 4).

Overall, the Grizzlies will play 13 of their 33 home games on weekends – including seven games on Saturday, four on Friday and two on Sunday – and have 20 back-to-back sets, one shy of last season’s total. Memphis will enjoy a season-long five-game home stand from Feb. 6-14 (the club’s longest since Dec. 12-22, 2008) and will play a season-high four consecutive road games twice in the upcoming season (Jan. 23-28, March 20-25).

The 2011-12 regular season local broadcast schedule will be released at a later date.
 

Read More: Kobe Bryant (G – LAL), Kevin Durant (F – OKC), Russell Westbrook (G – OKC), Memphis Grizzlies, New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers

With the cancellation on Friday of all November NBA games due to the ongoing labor strife, league commissioner David Stern has ruled out an 82-game regular season, if in fact there will be a season at all. Let’s assume for a moment that the league and the players union come to an agreement in time to begin play in December. Here is a look at what Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers missed out on.

The Lakers were set to open their regular season schedule on Tuesday, November 1 at Staples Center against Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. But as it stands now, the Lakers will begin their truncated regular season on Friday, December 2 in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz.

Gone for the Lakers are home games against the San Antonio Spurs on November 9 and the New York Knicks on November 17, and a back-to-back pair against 2011 Western Conference semifinalists Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City on November 22 and 23. In all, the Lakers said goodbye to nine home games and five road contests with Friday’s news:

• November 1: vs. Oklahoma City
• November 2: at Golden State
• November 4: at Phoenix
• November 6: vs. New Orleans
• November 7: at Sacramento
• November 9: vs. San Antonio
• November 11: vs. Denver
• November 13: vs. Detroit
• November 15: vs. Washington
• November 17; vs. New York
• November 22: at Memphis
• November 23: at Oklahoma City
• November 25: vs. Sacramento
• November 29: vs. Minnesota

For more Lakers news and information, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll.

If a new NBA collective bargaining agreement is reached in time, the Sacramento Kings will begin a seven-game preseason schedule Oct. 11 at home against the San Antonio Spurs, the NBA announced Thursday.

However, the preseason and regular season remain in question because of the league’s lockout that began July 1. The players and owners are not close to reaching an agreement on issues that include revenue sharing and salary cap.

If there is a preseason, the Kings will play three games at Power Balance Pavilion. After the Spurs, the Kings will host the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 19 and the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 22. A fourth “home” game would be played against the Portland Trail Blazers on Oct. 25 at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore.

The Kings’ preseason road games are Oct. 14 at Dallas, Oct. 15 at San Antonio and Oct. 21 against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

The Kings are scheduled to open the regular season Nov. 2 at home against the Houston Rockets.

For information: www.kings.com or (888) 915-4647.

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