Utah Jazz: True team effort lifts Jazz

Never mind for a moment that it came against Charlotte, winner of just 25 games this season, and forget that the Bobcats, down by 20 points early in the fourth quarter, were within three with less than six minutes to go.

If the Jazz get a little something from as many as they did in Tuesday night's 128-106 win at EnergySolutions Arena — including, but hardly limited to, double-doubles from Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur — they should be just fine, no matter what the circumstances.

"You know," said Williams, who finished with 14 points and a game-high 15 assists, "it's kind of weird sometimes; it's either one or two of us. But it's very rare that it's three players."

And it is even less frequent that the list of contributors is as lengthy as it was against the Bobcats, who were opening a Western-swing stretch with four road games in five nights and are in the midst of playing 10-of-11 away from home.

Yes, All-Star Boozer recorded his 48th double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 28 points and pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds.

And, yes, Okur was in his 2006-07 All-Star form, scoring 20, shooting 7-of-13 of the field, recording 10 boards and impressing so much — especially in light of an illness that drained him just last week — that Williams was willing to offer a rather unconventional suggestion for the future.

"Maybe we better inject the flu bug in him a couple more times," the Jazz point said. "Just keep getting Memo sick."

But, no, it wasn't just those three who had a hand in Utah's victory — one which leaves the Northwest Division-leading Jazz with the very same record, 47-25, that it had after 72 games last season, and with an NBA-best 31-4 record at home.

There was Andrei Kirilenko, who sparked the Jazz response after Charlotte — which went into the fourth down 92-72 — made it a three-point game at 101-98 with two free throws from 26-point team-high scorer Jason Richardson with 6:15 to go.

Sixteen-point scorer Kirilenko answered on the Jazz's next possession by thinking better of jacking up a trey try and instead slicing to the basket for a nifty layup, igniting a game-closing 28-8 run.

"It was a great move to the hoop," Williams said. "Strong. He took it up strong."

There was Kyle Korver, who hit 3-of-4 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter alone, the first make coming after Boozer rebounded the miss of a free throw that resulted from Kirilenko's drive.