Deron Williams posted game-high 22 points and dished out 11 assists as the Utah Jazz pulled away for a 95-86 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday night at the Bradley Centre.
Al Jefferson added 18 and C. J. Miles scored 16 points in the in Utah’s nineteenth victory of the season.
Andrew Bogut led the Bucks with team-high 19 points and 9 rebounds. John Salmons chipped in 18 points and Keyon Dooling registered 14 points in the Milwaukee’s fifteenth defeat of the season.
Game Story
It was an ugly but a 9- point win is exactly what Jazz needed.
The Milwaukee played flat and with very little fire on the defensive end. By the time they turned it up and started getting stops, it was too late. The Utah defence held the lead.
It is Utah’s plus point that they never seems to repeat a poor performance and they proved it right by overcoming a double-digit deficit for the ninth time this season.
On Utah holding Milwaukee to just three offensive rebounds, Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko said, "That's a great compliment to the big guys. They have been very active and concentrating on helping out. And the perimeter guys, too, they've been blocking out
and getting the long rebounds."
The Bucks raced out to a double-digit lead to start the game and Drew Gooden hit consecutive jumpers midway through the second quarter to give the Bucks their biggest lead of the first half at 39-27.
Utah took its first lead with the first four points of the third quarter 58-49, but Milwaukee, tied it before Raja Bell hit a 3-pointer to give Utah a 71-68 lead heading into the final stanza. Williams was been whistled for a technical foul on the bench
earlier in the quarter
With 6:22 left, Brandon Jennings gave Milwaukee an 80-79 leads on a layup anyhow Williams, answered with a 3-pointer for the fifth lead change of the fourth. Williams scored 15 of his 22 in the second half.
Salmons threw a bad pass that ended up in the hands of Francisco Elson, who flipped it to Andrei Kirilenko for a dunk.
With the clock running down, Bogut answered tried his level best to make the score a respectable one for Bucks but Kirilenko hit a long jumper, Millsap made a layup, Williams added two free throws and Jefferson tipped in a miss to make it 92-82. The Jazz
scored 25 second-chance points, and did not wait for the fourth quarter to make a big run, using a 15-3 spurt early in the second half.
Crucial Moment
The Bucks led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but the Jazz whittled it down to 46-43 at the half. Utah went on top by as many as 10 in the third quarter, but the Bucks took an 80-79 lead on Brandon Jennings' drive to the basket with 6:22 left.
Williams then drained a 3-pointer to start a 13-2 run, and Jazz were on its way.
Utah’s Lucky Numbers
It was Utah’s 19th victory of the season.
Since starting the season 0-2, Jazz have not lost consecutive games.
With a seven-game winning streak snapped on December 3, 2010, Utah have alternated wins and losses.
Each of the Jazz frontcourt starters -- Kirilenko, Paul Millsap, and Al Jefferson -- finished with nine rebounds.
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