Utah Jazz swat Shaq, dash past Phoenix

The Jazz were so happy to be back home Monday night, they threw a block party.

Behind three fourth-quarter rejections of Shaquille O'Neal, a 21-point, 15-rebound double-double by Carlos Boozer and another 21 points from C.J. Miles, coach Jerry Sloan's club returned from a disastrous five-game Eastern road swing to beat Phoenix 109-97 at sold-out EnergySolutions Arena.

The 7-4 Jazz — playing without starting point guard Deron Williams, who was out again because of his sprained ankle, and starting center Mehmet Okur, who is back from visiting his ailing father in Turkey but sidelined now by a strained lower back — used a 17-2 run in the fourth quarter to break open a two-point game and snap a three-game losing streak.

Highlights of the pullaway stretch were Paul Millsap's rejection of a dunk attempt by O'Neal, followed three possessions later by a run-closing, five-second sequence in which 19-point scorer Andrei Kirilenko first swatted one shot from Shaq, then stuffed another.

"I'm gonna tell you, man: We had guys that stepped up with big hearts tonight," said All-Star Boozer, whose double-double was his sixth of the season. "Everybody came in and took pride in what we were doing out there, and that's how we got back into it."

The Jazz trailed by nine points after the first quarter and by one early in the third, but went ahead to stay when Boozer hit two free throws to make it 61-60 with about 10 minutes left in the third.

Phoenix, down by six heading into the fourth, did get to within two a couple of times early in the final quarter.

But after Matt Barnes hit a 3-pointer to make it 86-84 Jazz, persistent Jazz bench players Kirilenko, Millsap, Brevin Knight, Kyle Korver and Matt Harpring used a three-shot possession that ended with a Korver-fed Harpring layup to spark their decisive run.

And by the time Millsap made 1-of-2 free throws with 4:51 to go, Utah led 103-86. The Jazz's lead never dwindled below 12 after that.

"A lot of these guys would be starting on other teams in the NBA, and some of these guys could start on this team right here," Boozer said. "So, we're deeper than a lot of people think we are — and we're gonna just keep doing what we do under the radar."

"Our bench was terrific," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan added with reference to a unit of subs that combined to score 59 points and pull down 23 of Utah's 47 rebounds. "They gave us a tremendous lift."

Most uplifting, though, had to be holding down nine-point scorer O'Neal, who shot just 3-of-11 from the field, including four shots in all that were blocked.

"My elbow hurts right now ... but it felt great," Millsap said.