Bell responds off bench again as Jazz outshoot the Sonics

With starting shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson traded away last week, it might seem like Raja Bell would have earned a starting position for the Utah Jazz.

But coach Jerry Sloan kept Bell right where he is, coming off the bench, and Bell responded again Tuesday night, scoring 23 points, including a 13-point fourth quarter, that pulled the Jazz to a come-from-behind 99-86 win over the Seattle Sonics in the Delta Center.

The same two teams play tonight at Seattle.

"Coming off the bench is probably the toughest job there is in this league. Those guys are very important to you," said Sloan.

"You've got to have somebody that's going to step out there with immediate energy and not be afraid. You've got to step out there and not be intimidated or afraid."

Bell excels at all that.

Especially against Seattle this season. His career high of 25 points came against the Sonics Nov. 28.

Tuesday, he kicked off an 11-0 Jazz run to start the fourth quarter with a 20-footer, then, with Utah up 84-78, Bell scored 11 of Utah's next 13 points to take Utah to a 97-82 advantage.

Not a starter, but definitely a finisher.

"It's OK by me," Bell said about coming off the bench. "I've played in so many situations in my career that I'd like to think I can be effective in all of them."

He said Sloan came to him earlier in the season when there was an opportunity for Bell to start, "and he said that he liked me coming off the bench just because I brought a little something off the bench."

"That's fine by me. If that's the role I play for this team, then I'll do my best when it's time to play.

"Starting games is great," Bell said. "You get to hear your name and everything. And don't get mistaken, everybody likes to hear their name. But the bottom line is how can you help your team, and for me, it's coming off the bench right now, so I relish that and do my best every night."

As for his hot shooting — 6-for-9 in the fourth period and 9-for-14 for the game — Bell said the Jazz executed better as a team and stepped up their defense enough to get a transition game going.

"The execution was great. I don't get open by myself — there's got to be a screen there, and then, the ball has got to get delivered, so from my point, the shots that I hit, it's because everybody else set the table for me. It was just me who wound up with the ball when it was time to shoot," Bell said.