Utah Jazz: Okur's big half lead Jazz over Blazers

Another 20th anniversary, another win for the Utah Jazz.

Another big night for Mehmet Okur, too.

The Jazz center scored 21 of his 25 points in the first half, and Utah went on to grab a 97-88 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers tonight at EnergySolutions Arena.

The victory came on the 20th anniversary for Phil Johnson, who was hired by Jazz coach Jerry Sloan as an assistant on Dec. 11, 1988.

Utah took an 11-point lead into the locker room, and then built that advantage to 17 points in the third quarter before Portland chipped away to make the final score a bit more respectable.

Paul Millsap recorded his 10th straight double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Deron Williams added 14 points, 11 assists and five rebounds.

The Jazz improved to 15-9 with the victory over the 15-9 Blazers, who got 33 points from All-Star Brandon Roy.