Utah Jazz: Kyle Korver's hot hand lifts Jazz to lopsided victory

SALT LAKE CITY — Kyle Korver doesn't need to be shooting lights out for him to be helping the Utah Jazz win basketball games.

But it certainly doesn't hurt.

Korver, who is on pace to set an NBA record for 3-point accuracy in a season, was on fire Wednesday night at EnergySolutions Arena during the Jazz's 128-104 victory over the Golden State Warriors. The reserve 6-foot-7 swingman made his first four shots on his way to a season-high 21 points in 25 minutes. Fifteen of those points came in the first half as the Jazz were pulling away for a 27-point lead at intermission.

"(Korver) got the ball where he likes to shoot it from," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan of his long-ball specialist. "And he shot the ball well."

Korver's mere presence on the court — whether he's making shots or not — keeps opposing defenses spaced out. Foes need to be aware of where he is at all times since he's shooting better than 50 percent from 3-point range for the season.

"Before the game tonight I really worked on my form," said Korver.

"I've been trying to work on my shot, and I came into the game and didn't want to be passive and worry about missing shots. I wanted to take good shots, for sure, and shoot to make them, but not be worried if I missed."

Korver missed frequently in his previous game. He was coming off a 1-for-9 shooting night in 33 minutes in the Jazz's win over the Knicks on Monday.

"He was 1-for-9 the last game, so you expect him to come back and shoot the ball well," said Sloan. "He was aware he was 1-for-9. Some people don't realize that, but he did."

The law of averages caught up with the Warriors. Korver made 8-of-12 shots overall and 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. Two of his other makes came with his toe on the 3-point line. He also added a rare — for him — dunk on a fastbreak.

"It was a ferocious dunk too," said Korver, tongue firmly planted in his cheek. "At least I was able to rattle a dunk home."

Korver wasn't only effective scorer against the Warriors. He also added four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in perhaps his best all-around game of the year.

The Jazz had a big night from its starting shooting guard as well.

Rookie Wesley Matthews scored 18 points and nailed a couple of 3-pointers himself to add to Utah's onslaught over the undermanned Warriors.

e-mail: lojo@desnews.com