Boozer leads Jazz past Timberwolves 122-100
Published 9:26 am Thursday, March 18, 2010
The Utah Jazz had to keep up with the surprising Minnesota Timberwolves early.
By the second half, the Timberwolves had run out of surprises and energy and Utah coasted to a 122-100 victory Wednesday night.
“We kept getting stops. We kept moving the ball offensively, getting rebounds and running,” said Carlos Boozer, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds for his 45th double-double of the season. “Next thing you know it went from a close game to a not-so close game and the game was over.”
Paul Millsap, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Kyle Korver added a season-high 20 points on his 29th birthday to help the Jazz extend Minnesota’s losing streak to 11. The Timberwolves allowed 152 points in a loss at Phoenix the night before and had little energy left in the second half.
Deron Williams finished with nine points and 11 assists before joining the other Utah starters on the bench for most of the fourth quarter.
Williams could use the breather. He sprained his left ankle in the first half and played with a bruised left shoulder, which was scheduled for an MRI on Thursday.
Wesley Matthews strained his left knee and Andrei Kirilenko left the game early in the second half after re-aggravating his strained left calf.
“Everybody’s a little banged up here and there,” said Boozer, who still has a half-inch gash under his right eye from an elbow he took earlier this month.
Utah coach Jerry Sloan gave his players Thursday off from practice so they could rest a little more for Friday’s game at Phoenix and then Saturday’s home game against New Orleans.
With just 14 games remaining, Utah is two games behind Denver for the Northwest Division lead and Dallas for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.