Utah Jazz: Thunder beat Jazz for 7th win

Published: Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009 9:09 p.m. MST
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Jeff Green scored 23 points, Russell Westbrook added 22 and Kevin Durant had 21, and Oklahoma City used a 22-7 third-quarter run to take control in the Thunder's 114-93 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.

Nenad Krstic had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Nick Collison added 10 rebounds for the Thunder, which outrebounded Utah 48-26. The victory was the seventh of the season for the Thunder and their fourth in eight games.

Deron Williams scored 25 points for the Jazz, which had a four-game winning streak ended. All of those came at home; this was the team's fifth straight loss on the road. Kyle Korver had 14 points, but just two in the second half.

One of the best shooting teams in the league, Utah made just 10 of 24 shots in the third quarter when the Thunder scored 36 points, its second-best quarter of the season.

Westbrook scored seven points, and Durant and Green had five each during the third-quarter spurt that saw the Thunder stretch a 54-52 lead to 76-59 with 3 minutes remaining. The Jazz had only two field goals during the 6-minute stretch and were more often than not limited to one shot per possession.

Williams scored nine of his points during the quarter for Utah but didn't get much help.

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Utah scored the first three points of the fourth period to close the margin to 12, but a Durant jumper and a three-point play by Earl Watson started another Thunder run that pushed the lead to 20 with 8:30 remaining. The Jazz got no closer than 14 after that.

Andrei Kirilenko, coming off season-high 23 points against Indiana on Monday, was the only other Utah starter in double figures. He had 12.

The Thunder grabbed an eight-point lead in the game's opening minutes and stretched the lead to 10 later in the quarter before Utah scored the final five points. Korver scored nine of his points in the second quarter in helping the Jazz tie the score at 48 just before halftime, but it was all Oklahoma City after that.

Notes: Okur, coming off a career-high 43 points against Indiana, had just nine points on 3-of-12 shooting. ... Utah F Paul Millsap, averaging 15 points and nine rebounds, missed his second straight game because of a bruised right knee. ... This was the start of three-game road trip and four of five away from home for the Jazz.

Recent comments

I agree with "tired!" The Jazz lack heart. It does come back to...

Kevin | Jan. 15, 2009 at 11:26 a.m.

These NBA primma-donnas don't care about anything other than the...

Attitudes | Jan. 15, 2009 at 8:32 a.m.

Outside of 3 good players, Durant, Westbrook and Green who does...

WHAT??? | Jan. 15, 2009 at 8:23 a.m.

Image
Associated Press

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, left, reacts following his dunk against the Utah Jazz in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Wednesday.

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