Jazz plays sweet tune as Hornets sing the blues

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: Turkish center Mehmet Okur scored 22 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Utah Jazz over New Orleans 77-66 in a Tuesday matchup of National Basketball Association contenders.

Utah's Deron Williams passed out 16 assists while Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko each contributed 10 points and helped a tough defense that ended the Hornets' 11-game home win streak and five-game overall win streak.

New Orleans connected on only 27-of-74 shots from the field, a meager 37 percent, and produced their fewest points of the season in a game, lowering the old mark of 71 the Jazz had imposed upon them on November 23.

Utah rose to 52-26 to tighten the gap behind Western Conference leader New Orleans ( 54-23).

The Jazz, founded in New Orleans before moving to Salt Lake City, jumped ahead 58-48 eight minutes into the second half and scored the final eight points of the third period as part of a 19-4 run for a 68-50 edge entering the fourth quarter.

New Orleans trimmed the deficit to 73-62 with 3:40 to play with an 8-0 run but came no nearer than nine the remainder of the game.

Chris Paul, the Hornets' top scorer with 21.5 points a game, managed only four points on 2-of-11 shooting.

"It was the first time in a long time that I can remember that we just couldn't make shots on a consistent basis," Hornets coach Byron Scott told reporters.

"You have to give them credit on defense, but we just couldn't knock down the shots."

Serbian standout Peja Stojakovic led the Hornets with 15 points while David West added 14.

In Indianapolis, Mike Dunleavy scored 28 points, and Indiana beat Atlanta 112-98 to avoid elimination from the Eastern Conference playoff race.

A win by the Hawks would have knocked the Pacers from playoff contention, and Atlanta would have needed just one win or a New Jersey loss the rest of the way to clinch a berth. Instead, the Pacers are just two games behind the Hawks for the eighth spot with four games left. The Pacers also claimed the tiebreaker against the Hawks by winning two of the three matchups this season.

Flip Murray had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Danny Granger scored 16 points and Marquis Daniels added 15 for Indiana. The Pacers, one of the hottest teams in the East, have won three straight and nine of 12.

In Milwaukee, the Big Three were back to build a big lead, but the reserves coughed it up and forced Boston to use overtime to beat Milwaukee 107-104 for its seventh straight victory.

After sitting out the Celtics' victory at Charlotte on Saturday, stars Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce lobbied coach Doc Rivers to play Tuesday night. Rivers originally wanted to get them another night of rest but relented.

Garnett scored 21 points, Allen had 11 and Pierce, who returned to the team after the birth of his daughter, had 14.

In Portland, Oregon, Brandon Roy scored 23 points and matched his career high with 12 assists, and Portland held off the Los Angeles Lakers 112-103.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and 16 rebounds for Portland, which snapped a five-game losing streak. Channing Frye had a season-high 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Kobe Bryant finished with 34 points, while Pau Gasol had 21 points and 13 rebounds. It was the Lakers' sixth straight loss at the Rose Garden.

In Dallas, Jason Terry scored 22 points, Josh Howard added 17, and Dallas crept closer to a playoff berth while sending Seattle to its club-record 60th loss, winning 99-83.

Brandon Bass scored 13 off the bench for the Mavericks, and Dirk Nowitzki chipped in with 11 points and 12 rebounds in his fourth game since returning from knee and ankle injuries.

Earl Watson had 22 points and eight assists for Seattle. Kevin Durant added 16 points, and Jeff Green and Nick Collison each had 11.

Agencies

(China Daily 04/10/2008 page24)