Bringing the home crowd to its feet a few times the Utah Jazz comfortably topped the Milwaukee Bucks, 109-88, at the Energy Solutions Arena. Around 18,497 basketball lovers witnessed the fourth consecutive home victory for the
Jazz.
Prominent Players
Five Jazz players scored in double figures, including a team-high 22 points and 11 rebounds by Al Jefferson. Deron Williams followed him with 22 points and 10 assists. Andrei Kirilenko scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds
and Earl Watson added 12 points off the bench for the Jazz.
Brandon Jennings led the Milwaukee Bucks with a game-high 27 points in the defeat. Chris Douglas- Roberts chipped in with 19 points and Ersan Ilyasova scored 18 and 6 rebounds for Milwaukee.
First Quarter
With an 8-4 run, the Bucks were as close as 23-19. A three-pointer by Chris Douglas-Roberts made it 28-26 with 12 seconds left in the first quarter.
Jazz started the game on a 15-5 run but the Bucks gradually played well and sent the game into the second down only four at 30-26.
Williams and Raja Bell led Utah with 8 points each. Williams also had five assists in the first.
Utah’s biggest lead of the quarter was 8 points.
Second Quarter
The Bucks started with a 7-2 run and grabbed their first lead, 33-32 with 09:12 to go.
Ilyasova of the Bucks added eight in the second quarter.
Jazz played the second with a balanced attack and Earl’s three-pointer at the buzzer made it 60-52.
Third Quarter
The Bucks outplayed Utah in the third quarter and successfully limited them to 20 points.
The Bucks used an 8-0 run to get as close as 68-65. However, two baskets by Al Jefferson with 00:25 to go, allowed the Jazz to take an 80-73 lead heading in to the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
The Jazz held Bucks to just 15 points in the final quarter and put the game away for good an an 11-0 run.
Ronnie Price and Watson combined for an alley-oop layup in the final minute to extend the Utah lead to 109-85.
With 31 seconds remaining, Douglas-Roberts had a three pointer for Bucks but until then the Jazz were down with a huge margin of 21 points (109 – 88).
Turning Point
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Bucks were right into the game, trailing 80-73. However, they were unable to score for the first 4:41 of the period, also missing the first five shots, and committed three turnovers. Utah
took full advantage of the situation and stretched its lead to 87-73 to put the game away.
Shining Star
Utah’s Forward Andrei ‘AK-47’ Kirilenko had a great time at the Energy Solutions Arena, as he added 19 points, shot 8 for 20, grasped four assists, three steals, and two rebounds.
Quotable
"You've seen the Energizer Bunny? (Watson and Price) are our Energizer Bunnies. They come on the floor and give us a spark on offense and defense. They are amazing." - - Andrei Kirilenko
While talking about the team’s inability to rebound, the Bucks coach Scott Skiles said, "At halftime we only had three guys that had a defensive rebound on the roster. I do not know if I have ever seen that in a game. They took
it to us from mid-third quarter on and we had a hard time with it."
Up Next
The Milwaukee Bucks look to avoid their seventh loss of the season when they travel to the Pepsi Center, Denver, to take on the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, December 1, 2010.
The outstanding Utah Jazz will shoot for their 15th victory of the season when they take on Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at Staples Center, Los Angeles.
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