Utah Jazz: Brewer sparks 'mature' Jazz

PHILADELPHIA — Deron Williams was back, but Mehmet Okur was gone, so the Jazz weren't exactly a portrait of perfection, let alone normalcy.

But coach Jerry Sloan's club did look like a team that's finding its focus, as it rallied in the fourth quarter Tuesday night to beat Philadelphia 93-80 and improve to 6-1.

Shooting guard Ronnie Brewer kick-started the comeback, scoring all 16 of his points in the final quarter as the Jazz — with Williams, or without — did something they might not have a season or two ago.

"It shows so much maturity on our team, because I think in the years past we would have folded," said Brewer, who also had nine rebounds, six assists and four steals in 38 minutes.

"Our team (previously), if we had a lead on somebody and we gave up the lead, we probably would have thrown the towel in and lost this game," Brewer added. "But we stuck with it. We rebounded, we defended and we executed our offense."

They indeed did all that, even with Williams playing for the first time this season after missing six games due to a sprained left ankle sustained in the preseason and with a 19-year-old rookie, Kosta Koufos, starting at center in place of the absent Okur.

Okur left the team Monday to return to his native Turkey, where his father Abdullah has been hospitalized in intensive care.

Koufos wound up logging 21 minutes, scored his first NBA points on an alley-oop dunk delivered by Brewer, finished with six, and pulled down five boards to boot.

But it was the season debut of Williams, who shot just 1-of-8 from the field but dished nine assists in 31 minutes, that had the Jazz feeling particularly good — especially after they opened a five-game trip Sunday in New York with a 22-turnover loss to the Knicks.

"He looked good to me," said All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer, whose fourth double-double of the season included a team-high 19 points and game-high 16 rebounds. "First day back, he looked like he usually is, in command. He did a great job of putting us in good sets."

"That's a plus," Brewer added. "I'm not saying (reserve point guards) Ronnie Price or Brevin Knight didn't do a great job, because when (Williams) was out they did a phenomenal job. But he knows this offense. It's his fourth year, and he runs it so well. He knows what plays to go to in crunch time to get big buckets, and that's what I think we've been missing in the first couple game."

Williams suggested the ankle, which he sprained Oct. 18, wasn't exactly at full strength.