Utah Jazz: Playing, falling hard — Jazz survive hard fouls, big rally to save win

It was long before big German Dirk Nowitzki took Andrei Kirilenko to the floor with a first-quarter takedown that sent the Jazz's forward from Russia to a local hospital for X-rays.

Well before Deron Williams finished dishing 20 assists against his favorite former, and now current, Dallas Mavericks point guard, Jason Kidd.

Even way before the Mavs rallied from 21 points down to take a brief fourth-quarter lead.

No, the Jazz were into this one from the get-go — and it showed in a 116-110 victory Monday night that marked Utah's 16th straight victory at EnergySolutions Arena, three shy of the franchise record of 19.

The Jazz are now 26-3 on their own floor, and they pulled out of a tie with the Mavs for best home record in the NBA. Utah and Dallas also are tied with the same overall record, 39-22.

"I thought we were already pumped up from the beginning of the game," said the Texas-raised Williams, whose assist count matched his season-high and was one off his career best. "I thought we came out and set the tempo."

"I thought we came out aggressive," added All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer, who scored a game-high 28 points, shot 12-of-19 from the field and was credited with three steals. "We came out very confident. We did a good job defensively, and then we ran on them on the first quarter. I don't know what the lead was."

Told it was 25-6 less than six minutes into the game, even Boozer sounded shocked.

"Was it?" he asked. "We were just playing. We were trying to win a game. Honestly. I mean, we ran our offense crisp, took advantage of what they gave us and knocked down shots."

That was evident from early on, as Williams needed only seven seconds to find Boozer for a quick layup. It was one of many pinpoint passes by Williams, who had 14 assists at halftime — one shy of John Stockton's franchise record for assists in a half.

"He was phenomenal," Boozer said of Williams, who also dropped 19 dimes in Saturday's win at Memphis.

Even Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was impressed by the first-quarter intensity, something Utah has struggled with since the mid-February NBA All-Star Game — and in particular during losses last week at Minnesota and New Orleans.

"The start was terrific compared to what we've had since then," said Sloan, whose club now has consecutive victories for the first time since the break. "That's something our team has got to be able to do."