Utah Jazz: Price's nice as the only point guard

With his only true point guards sitting on the sideline sporting dressy street clothes and injuries Wednesday night, Jerry Sloan was forced to bust open the case holding the emergency backup playmakers.

Andrei Kirilenko and C.J. Miles — both versatile athletes but not point guards by nature — each took brief turns running the Jazz offense while temporary starting point guard Ronnie Price took a breather in the first half.

No emergency crews were necessary after halftime, though.

Not the way Price responded to this near-disastrous situation — in a basketball sense, of course — in which Utah found itself trailing by double digits to a below-.500 Milwaukee Bucks team that was playing for the second night in a row.

The converted former shooting guard, who picked up the point position so well he eventually became Deron Williams' backup after joining Utah last season, played all 24 second-half minutes.

Price made the most of it, too.

During his final two energetic quarters in which he helped put out the Bucks' fire, the Utah Valley University product scored 14 of his career-high-tying 16 points while boosting the 8-4 Jazz to a 105-94 win.

Though Kirilenko and Miles held their own at the point, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan wasn't about to mess with Price's second-half success.

"I don't think you could've taken him out with a log chain wrapped around him," Sloan said. "You could tell he wanted to stay on the floor and compete."

With Williams (ankle) and Brevin Knight (groin) both out and the Jazz down by 10 in the third quarter, Price almost had to stay in to give Utah a chance to win its sixth straight at home.

As Sloan suggested, the undrafted Price wasn't about to ask for a spell in the pivotal second half, either. He ended up setting a career-high for minutes played, logging 40:23 of PT.

Tired?

Nah, he said. That's what timeouts are for.

"It was my first time ever doing that, but you know it felt good to be on the court and it's always good when you win," Price said. "I'm happy we got the win."

Sloan said the public got a peek of what the hard-working and competitive Price gives the Jazz in practice every day. That work ethic is one reason the coach never got down on Price, who has struggled to find his shot this season.