Jesus showed up in Utah last night. With the Celtics getting pushed for the third straight game out west, Ray Allen‘s fourth quarter was more classic than any interview Charlie Sheen could ever give. And that ain’t easy … If you watched the final five minutes of Boston’s five-point win over the Jazz, then you know the difference between a contender and a pretender. Utah played hard enough to win; Al Jefferson (28 points, 19 rebounds) was a monster all night in the post, throwing in a number of weird-looking hook shots, and the Jazz gave Tyrone Corbin everything they had. But ironically, for a team that most people would automatically stereotype as “fundamental,” Utah was unable to overcome a plethora of missed free throws and huge turnovers down the stretch … On the other side, Boston made every play they needed to, and made every big shot. Allen’s (25 points) shot chart from the final half of the fourth quarter read like this: layup, long jumper off of a screen, the quickest pull-up trey you will ever see and then an impossibly difficult two while fading to his right. He was butter on all of them … And did anyone catch Allen’s NBATV interview after the game? The studio guys asked him about Kendrick Perkins and Allen was still talking as if Perkins was a part of his family and his team. Is that weird? Bad? Cool? … Kevin Garnett (16 points, 14 rebounds) had a confrontation with Jefferson on a key possession late in the fourth quarter, and ended up forcing the Jazz power forward into a travel. Jefferson isn’t Xavier McDaniel, but he’s a step up for KG … Three different times in the first three quarters, Devin Harris (19 points) went coast-to-coast for layups, including a play near the end of the third quarter when the former Net brought the ball first above his head, then back down to his waist before spinning it up and around the Boston defense. While he might have peaked as a player two years ago, Harris has something in more abundance than pretty much anyone else: speed. The Jazz fan base probably don’t know what to do with it … Someone needs to let us into Channing Frye‘s dream. A night after taking out the Pacers with a crazy jumper at the buzzer, the NBA’s newest “closer,” Frye, led Phoenix to their 11th win in their last 14 games, a one-point win in overtime over the Nets, with a three-pointer in the game’s final 10 seconds. On the last possession for New Jersey, Kris Humphries (16 points, 15 rebounds) tipped in a miss from Deron Williams (18 assists). But, replays showed it was just late, giving the Suns their fourth straight win, and third straight on this Eastern Conference road trip … Remember earlier in the year when it was a treat to catch a Derrick Rose and John Wall matchup? Well, now that Rose has morphed into Hancock, and Wall is getting sucked up in the D.C. kindergarten atmosphere, it’s much less enticing. Last night, Chicago beat the Wizards by nearly 30 as Rose (21 points, 9 assists) took his showtime act straight through Wall (9 points, 10 assists, 3-14 shooting) … The Nuggets and J.R. Smith (19 points) used a balanced attack to beat the Hawks by 10 in Denver. They are now 3-1 since the big trade … New King Marcus Thornton (29 points) helped lead Sacramento to a six-point win over the Clippers. You don’t have to totally believe in Dime cover boy Blake Griffin (27 points, 12 rebounds), but just realize that team is hideous without him … Incredibly, with the news that Tony Parker is out for two-to-four weeks because of a strained left soleus (calf), he will be the first starter all year in San Antonio to miss a game … We’re out like Sheen’s wits.
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