More magic for Jazz

Move over Kyle Korver. There’s a new crowd favorite in town.

I didn’t expect to ever write that, but it became very loud and plenty clear on Saturday night that Sundiata Gaines has captured the hearts of Utah Jazz fans.

This means, of course, I fully expect to see pink No. 15 Gaines jerseys on sale at Masha Kirilenko’s boutique shop at The Gateway – and the sooner the better judging the ovation the rookie received on the second day of his second 10-day contract.

Some in the EnergySolutions Arena crowd – which included a few fans holding up posters giving the point guard props for his game-winning shot Thursday against LeBron James and Cleveland – even began chanting Gaines’ name with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

The Jazz were up big, and the fans were getting antsy to give the guy they didn’t even know existed 13 days ago a well-deserved curtain call.

Finally, with just over two minutes remaining in the 112-95 win over Milwaukee, Sloan motioned toward the bench for the long-awaited substitution.

Yep, Kosta Koufos was finally getting into the game. Oh yeah, so was the guy who knocked off The King’s crown for a day.

Cheers erupted as the two young players ran to the scorer’s table.

The arena’s roof nearly shot toward the moon when Gaines finally made his way onto the floor after Carlos Boozer called a timeout with 58.1 seconds remaining.

Many fans stood and most remaining went berserk after he was enthusiastically introduced by P.A. announcer Dan Roberts.

Not quite like the did Thursday night when he drilled the oh-so-memorable 3-pointer. But close enough to bring a quick smile on his face.

Fans would have really exploded had he hit a long jumper he took with 37.9 seconds remaining – his only shot of the game and the 17th attempt of his NBA career – but it was a bit off the mark.

It might be just as well. Arena roofs have got to be hard to replace.

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One of my other favorite sequences of Saturday’s game happened minutes before that final scene, and it involved the other backup point guard.

Ronnie Price made a bad pass that was picked off by Luke Ridnour, and the Bucks seemed like they were going to get an easy fast-break bucket by Charlie Bell.

But Price wasn’t about to let his mistake get compounded. He flew down to the other end of the court after the turnover and soared through the air just in time to swat Bell’s layup attempt about 25 feet away from the basket.

Deron Williams then plowed into the front row to save the ball to Kyle Korver, who returned it to Price.

Seventeen seconds after his errant pass, Price capped the exchange by nailing a 3-pointer.

It wasn’t quite as dramatic as Paul Millsap’s buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter, but the play exemplified the kind of hustle and bounce-back-ability Jazz players have been showing lately.

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Speaking of that Millsap three – just the second of his career – was anyone else hoping he’d jump up on the scorer’s table and celebrate a bit?

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Finally, there’s some good news and some bad news for the Jazz for tonight’s ESPN-televised showdown at Denver.

The good news for the Jazz: Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups are both expected to play for Denver.

The Jazz, if you’ll recall, lost 105-95 at home to the supposedly short-handed Nuggets two weeks ago when those two All-Stars were sidelined with injuries.

And the bad news? Uber-quick rookie guard Ty Lawson is expected to return to the lineup after missing four straight games with an ankle injury, according to the Denver Post. Lawson was the blur you might’ve noticed around the court who punished the Jazz for 23 points and nine assists in that win.