Ricky Davis was not a popular figure in Salt Lake City a few years ago when he purposely missed a basket at the end of a game so he could get the rebound for a triple-double when he was playing for Boston.

Monday night at EnergySolutions Arena, Davis was on his way to becoming even more unpopular with the Utah Jazz crowd, leading a big Minnesota charge that had cut an 18-point Jazz lead late in the third quarter down to six with 7:17 to go.

Jazzman Matt Harpring stepped in and made Davis a little more palatable to the home crowd, stopping Davis's 3-pointers and dunks with physical play that gave him free throws instead as the Jazz pulled away for their fourth straight victory, 106-91.

Davis finished with a season-high 32 points, 30 of them in the second half after the Jazz started double-teaming Kevin Garnett and getting him to pass to teammates like Davis. The shooting guard has made 32 of his last 72 3-point attempts and was fresh after sitting out an NBA one-game suspension Sunday night at Phoenix.

Davis's energy and heat-seeking missiles from past the arc had the Jazz trying to find a solution with Derek Fisher, Andrei Kirilenko and then Harpring.

"I knew I had some fouls (to use against him)," said Harpring, "and I was just going to play him physical because he was in a good rhythm. I just wanted to disrupt it and foul him a little bit. I didn't mind so much him going to the foul line because I knew that he'd miss a couple shots, which he did."

Harpring drew on his own experiences. When he's guarded by a very physical player, even when he gets by that player, he said he's still expecting the man to foul him from behind.

Davis did get past Harpring a couple times, but he also missed a three, perhaps looking for Utah's No. 15. And after his three that cut the lead to 87-81, when Harpring started dogging him, he did not make another basket, though he had seven free throws.

"He is quick," Harpring whistled. "And they set some good screens for him. You're not going to guard him perfect, but as long as you have your hands on him, he's always worried about you, and even when he might lose you for a second, he always thinks you might get behind him and bump him. You've just got to bump him. That's what I try to do anyway."

Davis even complimented Harpring a couple of times. "He said, 'Good D,' a couple times to me," said Harpring.

Harpring had 11 points and three rebounds with four fouls and two steals off the bench.

The best part, the defense, didn't show up in the boxscore, "But it's fun. I love when guys get frustrated, and they complain to the refs. I've always loved that, ever since I've been in the league," Harpring said.

Trying to chase quick Ricky from baseline to 3-point line, "It's a lot of hustle," said Harpring. "He's going to get some looks, but you just hope that the majority of the time you're in there, you're bothering him, and he knows you're around. That's what I tried to do."

"He's definitely got a little speed advantage," Jazz point guard Deron Williams said of Davis, "but Matt did a great job moving his feet. He uses his body. He's a little more physical with him, a little bit bigger, a little harder to shoot over, so Matt did a great job."

---

E-mail: lham@desnews.com