Utah Jazz: Carlos Boozer plays like All-Star in win over Clippers

LOS ANGELES — An All-Star slight didn't hurt the Jazz.

But it was their bench that bailed them out Tuesday night, when Utah rallied from 11 points down in the third quarter and four at the start of the fourth to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 109-99 at the sparsely filled Staples Center and extend its winning streak to nine.

"I'll tell you one thing: Ronnie Price got us that lead all by himself, man, and we took off from the there," said Carlos Boozer, who led the Jazz with a 34-point, 14-rebound double-double one night after learning Clippers center Chris Kaman and not he had been named an NBA All-Star sub in place of injured Portland guard Brandon Roy.

"We stuck together as a group of guys, believed in what we were doing," Boozer added, "and we came back and won a big game."

It was the 13th win in their last 14 outings for the 32-18 Jazz, who with a win tonight at home against the Los Angeles Lakers — their final game before this weekend's All-Star Game break — can notch the 10th double-digit win streak in franchise history.

"You can't worry about the streak," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "You've got to worry about the game. I think the most important thing is just to play one game at time.

"Everybody knows how corny that is, but that's the only way I know to try to help them out," he added. "Just go play, and put everything you have into it, and then worry about having a good time after that."

Boozer's good time, he admitted afterward, was motivated by having "an extra chip on my shoulder."

"Yeah it was," he said. "It was, but (that's okay) as long as it was in the context of what we were trying to do."

And it was, though it all would have gone for naught if not for a few breaks — and the bench.

"Ronnie Price and C.J. (Miles), they did a terrific job. Wes Matthews. They did a good job defensively," Sloan said.

Backup small forward Miles dunked home the rebound of an Andrei Kirilenko miss, snapping an 88-88 tie early in the fourth quarter.

That also sparked a 10-1 Jazz run with backup Price running the point, a stretch which also included rookie Matthews' fastbreak layup, Boozer's layup off a feed from Miles, and Miles' pass to Matthews for a layup and the free throw that followed.

"He made some great passes," Sloan said of Miles.