In a departure from seasons past, the Jazz went into this season with only two pure point guards.
     
It was a risk, partly made for budgetary concerns, they were willing to make. In the meantime, second-season starting shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson has served as Utah's emergency point guard.
     
On Thursday night in San Antonio, the emergency man was pressed into action: With veteran backup John Crotty on the shelf, Stevenson stepped in and looked solid, assuming most of Crotty's usual minutes in addition to playing his own.
     
"I felt real comfortable," said Stevenson, who wound up with a turnover-free eight points with two assists.
     
He should feel comfy.
     
Stevenson has quietly run the point for the second team during many Jazz practices and scrimmages this season, allowing veteran starter John Stockton to rest while Crotty works with the first unit.
     
It's important work at a position Jazz coach Jerry Sloan once said he did not anticipate Stevenson would play ? at least not this early in the 20-year-old's NBA career.