The red-hot Utah Jazz shoot for their ninth consecutive win
on Wednesday in Los Angeles against a Clippers team that has been faltering
lately.
The Jazz finished a four-game homestand in perfect fashion on Saturday when
Deron Williams recorded 22 points and nine assists to lead a balanced Utah
attack in a 116-106 victory over the short-handed Nuggets in a Northwest
Division battle at EnergySolutions Arena.
Andrei Kirilenko scored 22 points as well, while Carlos Boozer returned from a
three-game absence (calf) to donate 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz,
who moved to within two games of the division-leading Nuggets.
Paul Millsap and C.J. Miles each came off the bench to chip in 16 and 12
points, respectively, for the victors.
Ty Lawson ended with a game-high 25 points in a spot-start for Denver, which
was coming off a 126-113 win over the Lakers on Friday. Chauncey Billups had
39 points in that game but sprained his ankle, forcing him to join fellow All-
Star Carmelo Anthony on the bench Saturday.
"You look out there and see they don't have Billups, and they don't have
Carmelo Anthony, so we should've won real easily probably," Jazz coach Jerry
Sloan said. "But they beat us here with those two guys out the last time we
played them and that shows you how strong their team is. They've got a
terrific team. We got a little selfish, started just taking shots rather
than executing. We were all over the place. Once we executed, we at least had
a chance."
The Clips, meanwhile, lost for the sixth time in seven games on Saturday in
the head coaching debut for Kim Hughes, who replaced Mike Dunleavy on the
Clippers' bench after the former coach decided to focus on his role as general
manager of the team.
George Hill scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting in that one, as the San
Antonio Spurs notched their 15th straight win over LA with a 98-81 win at
Staples Center.
Chris Kaman, who learned he will be heading to the All-Star game on Monday as
an injury replacement for Portland guard Brandon Roy, had 21 points to pace
the Clippers, who were coming off a 2-6 road trip.
Eric Gordon contributed 20 points as the only other Los Angeles player to
score in double-figures.
"It wasn't a whole lot of fun," Hughes said. "We turned the ball over too many
times. We're a work in progress. I liked our rebounding, but we missed a lot
of open shots."
Utah has dominated the Clips recently, winning 10 of its last 12 encounters in
the series, including a 111-98 win in Salt Lake City earlier this season.
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