Comeback kids: Jazz rally from 21-point deficit and move to 11-1

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Much like the message plastered all over the turkey fryer — the one warning not to overheat the cooking oil, for fear flames will turn big bird into a toasty serving of hot wings — the Jazz received fair notice.

It came from within.

Do not, veteran forward Matt Harpring cautioned, fall into the trap of thinking it's okay to forever be rallying from behind.

"We just can't get down every game," Harpring was saying just the other day. "That's gonna run out of steam here soon. I mean, against a good team they won't let you come back if you get down 16."

So what did the Jazz go and go and do on Thanksgiving Eve?

Completely ignoring Harpring's admonition, they flirted with fire — going down by as many as 21 early in the third quarter — before mounting yet another epic comeback to beat Sacramento 110-101 at sold-out Arco Arena.

And after improving to an NBA-leading 11-1 with seven straight wins, they wondered not only how, but why.

"I don't know what we're doing. I really don't," guard Derek Fisher said. "That takes way too much work. It's too long of a season to have to try to do that night-in and night-out."

After coming back from 16 to beat both Toronto on Monday night and Phoenix last Saturday night, though, they added one more night to their growing list of down-but-not-out hits.

Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams led the charge this time, combining for 52 points — including 18 together during a fourth quarter in which the Jazz outscored the shorthanded Kings 39-17.

Boozer finished with a game-high 32 points on 14-of-20 shooting from the field and pulled down 13 rebounds for his 10th double-double in 12 games this season, while Williams added another double-double with 20 points and 13 assists.

To pull off the trick this time, though, the Jazz had some help.

"We can't keep expecting to get lucky," coach Jerry Sloan. "I mean, (Kings starting point guard Mike) Bibby went out of the ballgame, and (starting small forward Ron) Artest was hurting.

They weren't quite the same team," Sloan added, "with those guys in that kind of shape."

Artest played 36 minutes, but was slowed by a bad back.