Utah Jazz rally in 4th quarter to burn Suns

By Tim Buckley, Deseret News

Published: Friday, March 5 2010 12:03 a.m. MST

Phoenix's Steve Nash passes the ball between Utah's Carlos Boozer, left, and Mehmet Okur, right, on Thursday.

Pat Shannahan, AP

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Summary

It was another comeback for the ages. Or at least another from this season to savor. Down 86-75 starting the fourth quarter, the Jazz rallied to beat Phoenix.

PHOENIX — It was another comeback for the ages. Or at least another from this season to savor.

Down 86-75 starting the fourth quarter, the Jazz rallied to beat Phoenix 116-108 in a TNT-televised game Thursday night at US Airways Arena.

Mehmet Okur put the Jazz up to stay with two free throws — coming after he rebounded the ball and flailed up a shot attempt with one second left on the 24-second clock — that made it 105-104 with two minutes and 26 seconds remaining.

Andrei Kirilenko followed with a steal and a free throw, and the Jazz got clutch 3-pointers in the final 1:37 from both Deron Williams — who finished with nine assists and a team-high 27 points, including 13 points in the fourth quarter — and Okur to complete the comeback.

Carlos Boozer added a 15-point, 15-rebound double-double for the Jazz, with seven of his points coming in the fourth.

"This was a huge game for us," Boozer added, "and a huge matchup.

"We've played this team twice, and both times they were able to jump out and somehow we were able to come back and beat them," he added. "Let me tell you, they have been some incredible games."

This one follows a Jan. 25 win over the Suns in which Utah rallied from 17 down with two-and-a-half minutes to go in the third quarter, and a Feb. 21 win at Portland in which Utah was down by 25 with less than seven minutes to go in the third before prevailing in overtime.

Playing from behind again very nearly cost the Jazz, but instead Utah broke a two-game road losing skid.

The victory ended Phoenix's five-game home win streak, and allowed the 39-22 Jazz to prevent the now 39-25 Suns from leapfrogging them in the NBA's Western Conference standings and move to fourth place while pushing Utah to fifth.

Now, however, Utah is a game-and-a-half up on Phoenix.

"This one feels good after dropping the last two," Williams said after Utah finished 12-for-24 from 3-point range, including his own 5-for-9.

"The fact that they win this game, they take over fourth — this was a huge win for us, and we were able to get a little separation between us," he added. "It just show a lot about our team."