Kruger, a nightmare for Jam
| Wednesday, Apr 15 2009 11:00 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Apr 15 2009 11:00 PM
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Daily Herald (Provo, Utah)
OREM, Utah Among the 3,418 fans who showed up to watch the Utah Flash play their first playoff game in franchise history on Wednesday night, were Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan and Jazz Vice President of Basketball Operations, Kevin O'Connor.
It's not unusual for the Jazz brass to show up to check on Kosta Koufos and Morris Almond, but while the Jazz management watched the progress of their own players, Flash point guard Kevin Kruger let his play do the talking.
Kruger looked NBA ready in Utah's biggest game of the season as he led the Flash to a 94-81 win over Bakersfield in the first round of the playoffs.
Kruger scored 23 points. He passed out six assists, and the 6-foot point guard grabbed six rebounds.
The Flash now move on to play the winner of the Dakota/Iowa game which will be in the McKay Events Center on Monday night.
Bakersfield cut an 11-point Utah lead down to 76-70 with eight minutes left in the game when Kruger came up with a steal and layup that started a 8-0 run that put the game away.
"I think it kind of broke their back a little bit. They hung around, made shots, had second chance opportunities. That (steal) pushed the lead up to 10 and I think that deflated them a little," Kruger said. Utah caught fire in the third quarter to open up a lead it would never relinquish. A Kruger 3-pointer put the Flash up 54-52 with 5:25 left in the quarter.
Trey Johnson led Bakersfield with 23 points.
The loss ends Bakersfield's season at 26-25, a vast improvement over last year's 11-39 record.
Kruger then fed Dupree for an alley-oop layin. A pair of Utah free throws up the Flash up 58-52 and a Carlos Wheeler offensive basket put the Flash up 60-52 with 3:25 left in the quarter.
A Dupree dunk followed by an Almond 3-pointer gave Utah its biggest lead of the game at 69-57 with 1:09 left in the quarter.
The Flash led for most of the first half, thanks to a strong first-half showing by Kruger, who scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, but Bakersfield came back with 11 first-half points from Mateen Cleaves to take the lead at 33-31 with 4:10 left in the first half.
The Jam pushed the lead to 39-34 before Kevin Kruger knocked down a 3-pointer and trailed 41-40 at intermission when Gavin Grant sank a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer that kept score tight.
Dupree added 20 points for the Flash and Almond, who missed the last two games with a sore back, scored 15 points off the bench. Trey Johnson led Bakersfield with 23 points.
The loss ends Bakersfield's season at 26-25, a vast improvement over last year's 11-39 record. Speaking of improvement, Utah missed the playoffs last year with a 24-26 record. The Flash are now 33-18 and have made the D-League's Final Four.
