Corbin declines to question Popovich's decision

Some notes and quotes from the Jazz's 91-84 victory over San Antonio on Monday night at EnergySolutions Arena:— Coach Tyrone Corbin refused to be drawn into a discussion about Gregg Popovich's decision to rest stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili: "It's not for me to agree or disagree with. Popovich has been doing it for a long time. He's had those guys there. It's his team — his way of doing it and that's how he decided to do it." Asked if he would ever rest his three best players during a playoff race, Corbin said, "I'm not where he's at. Right now, with this team, we need everybody we have — plus some. So we can't afford the luxury of being able to rest guys."— Before the game, Corbin said he expected the kind of effort the shorthanded Spurs eventually produced: "We have to play, man. We can't afford to think — because somebody's out of the lineup — that we're just going to show up and win the game. ... They will run the same plays. They are still going to cut hard. They are going to make good passes. They are going to take a lot of three-point shots. They are going to play hard."— Because of injuries to Raja Bell, Josh Howard, C.J. Miles and Earl Watson, the Jazz's DeMarre Carroll made the second start of his 99-game NBA career. He went scoreless but grabbed three rebounds and came up with two steals in 11 minutes. — Corbin credited San Antonio's defense for limiting Al Jefferson to 12 shots in 36 minutes. Jefferson finished with 12 points. He was 0-for-4 in the fourth quarter, when Devin Harris came through with 12 points. Said Corbin: "I thought Devin did a great job of finding some gaps. They did a good job of fronting Al and keeping the ball out of his hands. But we made secondary plays on the weak side." Said Harris: "Defensively, we got stops and that enabled us to get into transition. That allowed me to get some good looks. I think we got the momentum from there."— The Jazz enjoyed a 33-10 advantage in free-throw attempts. Harris shot 12 free throws, or two more than the Spurs' entire team. "I thought we were aggressive going to the basket," Corbin said. — San Antonio's Stephen Jackson struggled. In 32 minutes, he finished with five points on 2-for-13 shooting, including 1-for-5 on three-pointers and 0-for-4 in the fourth quarter. With the Spurs leading, 75-67, Jackson missed a three-pointer. After Utah's Jamaal Tinsley cut San Antonio's lead to six, Jackson missed another three-pointer. After the Jazz tied the score at 80-80, Jackson missed another three-pointer.— Steve Luhm