Ostertag, Ilgauskas spar

Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Cleveland was 1-for-9 shooting and had seven rebounds and four fouls when Utah center Greg Ostertag did all he could to try to stop him from making another basket.

At 6:51 of the third period, the Jazz ahead 58-42 and with Andrei Kirilenko having left the game with a twisted ankle less than two minutes earlier, Ostertag brought both arms down across Ilgauskas's layin attempt.

And that play seemed to change Saturday night's game in the Delta Center. Cleveland went on to a 102-96 overtime win to run its record to 13-27, handing Utah only its fourth home loss of the season.

"It wasn't hard, it was dirty to drive an elbow through a guy's face," said Ilgauskas of Ostertag's foul, to which he reacted with a two-hand shove. Ostertag went after Ilgauskas, Ilgauskas threw a punch and both players were thrown out of the game.

Tha Jazz are now concerned that Ostertag could draw a suspension from the league. The Cavs likely face the same with Ilgauskas.

"I think we won because I got thrown out," Ilgauskas said. "Who knows, if I had stayed in the game?"

"I've been talking about the toughness factor and that certainly happened," said Cleveland coach Paul Silas. "When Ostertag went out, that was a big key.

"He had been rebounding, blocking shots and shoring up that middle, and now, they come with a guy that's not as dominant, and I thought that was a big factor.

"That's when Booze (Carlos Boozer) got a chance to go off."

Boozer had a career-high 32 points, plus 18 rebounds and strong defense against Kirilenko, who scored 27 points but went about 15 minutes after turning his ankle scoring just one point.

"Boozer was exceptional. Without him, there's no way this could have happened," said Silas, whose club lost prized rookie LeBron James to a "slightly sprained" ankle in the final 15 seconds of regulation when he came down on Kirilenko's foot after a layup attempt.

Boozer, who had 11 points and eight boards through the first three quarters, said, "We were down 18 at halftime, and everybody picked it up and fought back. When Z (Ilgauskas) and Ostertag went at it, it sparked us, and everybody picked it up."

For his part in the pickup, Boozer said, "We had to. LeBron is a huge part of our offense and everybody had to hit free throws."

Ostertag refused comment about the bout, but Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, a proponent of physical dominance, was not happy with Ostertag, who tossed over the water cooler as he exited the court, unhappy at his ejection.

"That's part of basketball, I guess," said Sloan, "but I thought it was a dumb thing on Greg's part. I don't mind playing hard, but you don't have to fight the guy.