Utah Jazz roll past Warriors, close in on Nuggets

OAKLAND, Calif. — If they still are ticked about the surprise Thursday morning practice in New Orleans following back-to-back road wins, it didn't show.

If they're still not over Thursday afternoon's trade of starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer to Memphis, it wasn't evident either.

What was obvious, though, is the Jazz weren't about to let petty peeves or personal disappointment alter their recent winning ways.

At least not this night.

Utah on Friday beat Golden State 100-89 in a late-starting West Coast game at Oracle Arena, doing so in fashion convincing enough it didn't really hint at the recent wrenches thrown its way.

Even if there was one really big one.

"We were down," power forward Carlos Boozer said afterward.

"Losing Ronnie Brewer, he's like our family member," Boozer added. "He's a brother to all of us. He's been here for four years, started his whole career (in Utah). ... We miss Ronnie, man. You saw that tonight."

Boozer led the Jazz with a 30-point, 16-rebound double-double, Andrei Kirilenko added 22 points and C.J. Miles scored 16 off the bench.

The 15-39 Warriors did cut a 27-point Jazz lead in the third quarter to as few as 10 with two minutes and 44 seconds left in the fourth, but Utah led by double-digits throughout the second half.

Playing for the third time on a four-game trip that ends Sunday night at Portland, the 35-19 Jazz won for the third straight time, sixth straight on the road, the 12th in the last 13 outings and 16th in their last 18.

The victory combined with a Denver loss at Washington on Friday night pushed Utah to just a half-game behind the Northwest Division-leading Nuggets for second-best record in the West.

In their first game since Brewer was dealt on deadline day for a protected 2011 first-round draft pick, the Jazz led by as many as nine points in the first quarter and by as many as 23 during a second period, which they opened with a 28-2 run before winning the quarter 31-10.

"We got layups, a lot of points in the paint (16 of the 31) in that second quarter," Boozer said. "That set the tone for us."

With Boozer scoring 18 points in the first half alone and Miles contributing 13 before the break, Utah went into the second half up 18 at 59-41.