Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — It was a great weekend to be a sports fan in Utah.
It started with the Utah Jazz who pulled off a thrilling 99-92 overtime victory over the Golden State Warriors. The story of the game was the performance of Derrick Favors who had career highs in points (23) and rebounds (17) to go along with one of the best dunks of the season for the Jazz.
His ferocious throw down wasn't the only spectacular play by a Jazz player. How about Gordon Hayward getting the block on one end and then driving the length of the floor for a two handed dunk.
#Videos
The excitement continued Sunday when the Jazz made the trip to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers. Staples Center has been unkind to the Jazz over the years and with Al Jefferson attending his grandmothers funeral, a win in L.A. seemed like an even more difficult task.
However, someone forgot to tell Paul Millsap and the young players on the Jazz roster that they had no business winning Sunday.
Millsap's 24 points were combined with career high performances from Enes Kanter and Alec Burks who both scored 17 points. Derrick Favors stepped up and had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Gordon Hayward did a great job defending Kobe Bryant. The Black Mamba made just three of 20 shots and missed a potential game-tying three-point attempt in the final seconds.
The play of Alex Burks in the 4th quarter was especially impressive. The rookie made one big play after another. He scored 13 of his career high 17 points in the fourth and was a perfect six-six from the field. He didn't seem to be intimidated by the moment. Next time the Lakers play the Jazz, Kobe may want to look up the young kids name.
Real Salt Lake
I haven't even mentioned Real Salt Lake, who dominated Thierry Henry and the New York Red Bulls, winning 2-0 in their home opener. The new RSL Anthem has caught on quickly and the chant made for a tremendous atmosphere at Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday despite the awful weather.
After the pre-game fireworks, Real Salt Lake provided plenty of fireworks of their own. Fabian Espindola and Luis Gil found the back of the net in the victory.
RSL is now 2-0 with wins over the LA Galaxy and New York by a combined score of 5-1. They are No. 1 in the latest ESPN MLS power rankings.
They have done this without starters Nat Borchers and Will Johnson and with Javier Morales and Alvaro Saborio playing limited minutes. I can't wait to see what this team does when they get healthy.
If you aren't on the RSL bandwagon, this is a good time to hop on folks; there is plenty of room.
NBA play of the weekend
The Jazz had some pretty impressive highlights this weekend, but I have to give the nod to this behind the back pass by Danilo Gallinari to Kenneth "Manimal" Faried for a lay-up. This is one of the best plays of the year in the NBA.
Other great links:
Here is a warning to all players, coaches and spectators attending NCAA tournament games. There are a lot of cameras. You may want to keep your dentures in your mouth at all times.
I think it's lame when fans whine about officiating during sporting events, but this is one play where a fan would have a legitimate gripe. How did they miss this call? I guess you can't really blame them since the broadcast crew didn't seem to notice either.
There hasn't been a single buzzer-beater or overtime game so far in the 2012 NCAA Tournament but there has been plenty of drama. Here is a recap of all the top stories from the first week of the tourney.
