New Orleans began pulling away with just under four minutes left in the first quarter. The Jazz had opened shooting a lot of jumpers that missed, and while New Orleans missed outside shots, too, it was more successful inside. "Their big guys got the ball down low, went inside, and our defense was terrible," Sloan said.

"I didn't think our energy level was there," he added. "I find it really unusual that we didn't have any energy after three days."

Russian forward Andrei Kirilenko, who spent the Thanksgiving holiday with his family at a Thai restaurant, agreed it was a foggy start. "Well, uh, we have couple days off, and after days off, we kind of get out of game rhythm. But at the end of the game, we start feeling it, play like we used to."

Kirilenko had eight points, six boards, four assists, three blocked shots and two steals.

The Hornets, a strong rebounding team, were doing just that. "Sometimes the ball bounces all funny, (and) you might not be able to get the defensive rebound," said Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer, who had a slow start like Williams but got energized enough to collect 19 points and 16 rebounds, two more than Hornet David West.

The Jazz had played some decent perimeter defense, getting the Hornets to double-clutch and then have to pass as many as three times on one play, "but they also had times where they just turned inside and laid it up and there was nobody there," Sloan observed.

Brewer thought that perimeter defense helped Utah get going, though. "We were rotating and were in their face, were aggressive, trying to get our hands on basketballs, play the passing lanes, and that was a key, I think, tonight. There were times when we weren't executing our offense that well, but we were still defending and making them take tough shots, and once they took tough shots, it led to fast breaks and easy baskets for us."

Hart (11 points, two assists) and Price (12 points, two steals) kind of took the point on the deflections and such at the right time, and the Jazz were their good selves again. "They really pushed us forward today," said Brewer.

"Our bench came in and played terrific ball tonight.They played great basketball for us and gave us a bigger lead, and then we came in in the fourth quarter and finished it off," said Boozer.

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E-mail: lham@desnews.com