Millsap has career night in win

NBA superstar LeBron James made his once-per-year visit to EnergySolutions Arena on Wednesday night and he didn't disappoint. His 3-pointer in the final seconds knotted the game up before Deron Williams' layup ended the scoring. James filled up the stat sheet with a triple-double by midway through the third quarter and had a fine all-around outing.

But as good as James was, it was the game's other 22-year-old, 6-8 forward — the one wearing a home white Utah Jazz uniform — that was the story of the game for the winning team.

Paul Millsap scored a career-high 24 points — including 15 in the second quarter alone — to lead the Jazz to a 103-101 victory over James' Cleveland Cavaliers. Millsap's previous best scoring game was a 20-point outing last November against Toronto. He entered the game averaging 8.3 points per game off the bench.

"We know that Paul is capable of doing that," said Williams, the Jazz point guard. "It's tough to find a place to get him in there with the two bigs we've got because they are going to get the majority of the minutes. But Paul is a very efficient player and when he comes in he makes the most of his minutes and is ready to contribute.

Millsap played 27 minutes during the late-night, ESPN-televised game — 10 more than his average.

"It's a great feeling," said Millsap. "We beat one of the best teams in the league on television. It's a great feeling for us and a confidence builder for us."

James, meanwhile, scored 32 points with 15 rebounds and 11 assists in the losing cause. Despite this being his fifth season in the NBA, James, believe it or not, doesn't turn 23 for another six weeks. But he's still 41 days older than Millsap, Utah's second-year rebounding specialist.

It was Millsap's scoring off the bench — not his rebounding — that most helped the Jazz. Millsap was perfect on offense in the first half — making all 12 of his shots, five from the field and seven more from the line. He also added three rebounds and four steals in the first half as the Jazz opened up a 52-48 lead at the intermission.

"Paul had a terrific game," said Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer.

Millsap scored seven points in the fourth quarter before fouling out with 27.6 seconds to play. He wasn't on the court for the final frenetic seconds of the Jazz win, but he'd done enough beforehand to put his team in position to get the victory.

For the game, Millsap was 7-for-8 from the field and 10-for-13 from the free-throw line. LeBron wishes he'd had that efficient of a shooting night.

"He just went after the ball," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan of Millsap. "He was relentless."

---

E-mail: lojo@desnews.com