Jazz go to work early, and it pays with a road rout of Clippers

By Tim Buckley, Deseret News

Published: Tuesday, Jan. 22 2008 12:21 a.m. MST

Utah Jazz' Deron Williams lays the ball up while being defended by Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Kaman.

Jeff Lewis, Associated Press

Summary

An early afternoon start didn't hurt. Picking on an opponent that is dead last in the Pacific Division had to help. But what really made the difference — the Jazz opened the second half of their 2007-08 NBA season by breaking a four-game road losing streak Monday — is that they were willing to earn it the old-fashioned way.

LOS ANGELES — An early afternoon start didn't hurt. Picking on an opponent that is dead last in the Pacific Division had to help.

But what really made the difference — the Jazz opened the second half of their 2007-08 NBA season by breaking a four-game road losing streak Monday — is that they were willing to earn it the old-fashioned way, jumping on the Los Angeles Clippers from the get-go and sustaining their effort throughout a 109-93 Martin Luther King Jr. Day victory at Staples Center.

So who cares if it was a yawner?

Certainly not point guard Deron Williams, who seemed to enjoy going straight from breakfast to business.

"I know I was awake," said Williams, who scored a team-high 18 points and dished a game-high 13 assists for his 20th double-double of the season.

"We got steals (15, matching their season-high), deflections and just played a lot better than we have in the past," he said. "I tried to set the tempo early, as soon as we came out, just to get guys out running, get guys loose early."

It worked.

Monday's was the second blowout of the 12-25 Clippers in as many outings for the 24-18 Jazz, who also had an easy time Friday night at EnergySolutions Arena.

What made this one special, though, is that it came on the road — where Utah was just 6-15 in the season's first half, and where the Jazz had won only once since beating Philadelphia way back on Nov. 28.

"It was great for us," said power forward Carlos Boozer, whose 12 points and 12 rebounds marked his 29th double-double this season — third-best in the NBA behind only Orlando's Dwight Howard and Minnesota's Al Jefferson.

"We finally brought the same defensive intensity that we had at home on the road," Boozer said, "and that's why we won the game."

Or at least it was one reason.

There was a multitude of others, including a balanced offensive attack for a second straight game against the Clippers.

Utah again had seven scorers in double figures and this time got 51 points from its bench, including a season-high 17 points with 7-of-10 field shooting from forward Matt Harpring.

"That was good," said Harpring, who — restrictions on his playing time, because of a surgically repaired right knee, lifted for the first time this season — logged a season-high 27 minutes.