The Comeback: Episode VI

3-POINT SHOTS now that we’ve had 24 hours to mull over the Utah Jazz’s crazy comeback and 103-94 win in Portland, where an 11-point lead was not safe for the home team:

POINT 1: We’ve seen hot-shooting nights by C.J. Miles before. Heck, he hit 5-of-6 3-pointers a couple of weeks ago against Toronto. So while his 25-point, 7-for-10 shooting display was dazzling and pretty incredible to watch in person, it has me wondering what he’ll do next. Who knows if we’ll ever see a 3-point night like that from him or if he’ll ever go 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in one quarter as he did in the final 12 minutes. Judging history, probably not. Deja vu alert: The Jazz just need him to be consistent (consistently good, not consistently inconsistent) on both ends of the floor.

POINT 2: This side of Miles, Earl Watson might have been the player of the game Saturday. It was one of the best zero-point efforts I’ve seen in some time. His spark and Ronnie Price‘s spunk have given the Jazz a boost when needed on several occasions this season. We keep seeing this glimpses of Watson catching on to this offense, and it’s definitely needed. Deron Williams is still averaging 39 minutes a game, which is several too many if Utah hopes to keep him going for a long season and a playoff run. It was good to hear coach Phil Johnson give Watson props after the win, too. Gotta love the non-scoring game-changing effort.

POINT 3: Talking to Jazz players before Saturday’s game about Wesley Matthews, they agreed that he is a physical player. That, Miles told me, is why Matthews ended up with the nickname “Hancock.” He was as hard-nosed and tough as Will Smith‘s hero character.

If Williams had forgotten about Matthews’ physicality, Portland’s current starting shooting guard gave him a body-check reminder late in the game. Matthews immediately reached out to help D-Will, but it seemed a bit excessive and likely came out of frustration from losing to his former team.

Matthews did have his moments against the Jazz, including a very sweet turnaround shot over Williams. Knowing that Matthews had to admire Williams, a former sports writer from Utah in attendance Saturday jokingly said: “That might have been the highlight of Matthews’ life.” Seeing as the play came in a loss, that distinction might still fall back on Matthews’ 30-point night or his 20-10 double-double he had in Brandon Roy‘s place earlier in the week.