Jan

13

Okur Scores Career-High 43, Jazz Gives Pacers Sour Note 120-113

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Game Recap 

The Utah Jazz have been the beneficiaries of taking on recent opponents who are on lengthy road trips, with the end result being wins on the Jazz’ side.  Monday night brought a matchup between the Jazz and Indiana Pacers at Energy Solutions Center in which center Mehmet Okur poured in a career-high 43 points; Utah would need every one of them as they held off Indiana for the victory 120-113.

Utah’s saving grace, besides Okur’s offensive explosion, was that they went to the charity stripe 37 times (making 34 of them) while Indiana went only 19 times (making 16); the first half was one reminiscent of the old ABA days when scoring was early and often, with Utah outscoring Indiana 36-32 in the first quarter and outscoring them 34-31 in the second quarter – with the end result being the Jazz taking a 70-63 lead into their locker room.

Okur would tie his career high in points on a free throw with 5:09 left in the third quarter then converted the second FT; he added a jumper, giving Utah a 96-76 lead with 3:46 left in the period but they would not score for the next 6 minutes.  Travis Diener drained a 3-pointer and Danny Granger converted a 3-point play to start a 16-0 Indiana run, which spanned from the end of the third quarter to the early part of the fourth quarter.  The run was capped by a pair of free throws by Troy Murphy, getting the Pacers to within 96-92.

Andrei Kirilenko finally ended Utah’s scoring drought with a pair of free throws with 9:32 left in the game and Deron Williams followed that up with a jumper, increasing the Jazz’ lead to 100-92.  The Pacers were pesky as they cut the lead to 109-106 on a 3-pointer by Mike Dunleavy; Indiana had another chance after getting to within 113-103 on a trey by Jarrett Jack, but Utah’s Williams responded with a 3-pointer of his own.  That basket put Utah up 116-109 with 1:25 remaining and they held on for the win.

Utah’s high scorer was Okur with 43 points (including 3 treys), 9 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal while Williams and Kirilenko added 23 apiece – with Williams dishing out 11 assists while Kirilenko grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out 3 assists along with 3 steals and 3 blocked shots.  Indiana was led by Granger with 30 points (including 6 three-pointers), a rebound, 7 assists and 2 blocked shots while Dunleavy added 20 (including 3 treys) with 7 rebounds and 2 assists; Murphy recorded a double-double, scoring 12 with 10 boards.  Utah (23-15) plays again on Wednesday when they go to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder while Indiana (13-25) returns home to host the Detroit Pistons – also on Wednesday.


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