Streak starter? Jazz hope tough win will help get a run going

Even though they are now five games above .500 at 20-15, the Jazz still do not hold down an NBA Western Conference playoff position.

They haven't put together a winning streak of more than two since early in November, and they just went over the century mark in man-games lost this season due to injuries and personal matters.

No wonder coach Jerry Sloan was looking for anything he could get from club Monday night, and content with what it delivered to a sold-out but snow-thinned crowd at EnergySolutions Arena.

Sloan's Jazz beat Golden State 119-114, handing the 10-26 Warriors their third consecutive loss overall and their fifth straight in Utah.

"This has been kind of a long and tough season so far," Sloan, whose almost-patched-back-together team was playing its 23rd straight game without injured All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer, said afterward. "We've got a long ways to go."

That in mind, Sloan added, "Everybody's got to contribute as much as they can."

And that they did against the Warriors, kickstarting a four-game homestand that continues with Wednesday night's game against New Orleans.

Three Jazz players — Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap — finished with double-doubles.

Williams produced a team-high 25 points and dished a game-high 15 assists, opening 8-for-8 from the field while also tying his season-high for dimes.

Williams' double-double was his 12th of the season, as was the one from Okur, who scored 20 and pulled down 11 boards.

And Millsap's 19 points and 14 rebounds marked his 18th, tying the Jazz team record for consecutive double-doubles set by point guard John Stockton in 1992.

"He made a couple blocks ... (and) knocked the ball out of people's hands," Sloan said of Millsap, whose double-double streak is longest active one in the league. "I thought he did terrific."

The Jazz weren't so awesome early on, though, as another of their patented-of-late show starts allowed Golden State an early nine-point advantage.

But Utah did take a six-point lead into halftime, and it went ahead to stay when Kosta Koufos' tip of a Williams miss gave the rookie big man two of his 11 points and the Jazz an 87-86 lead late in the third quarter.

A Williams steal on the other end led to a fastbreak dunk by Andrei Kirilenko, who added another 15 points off the bench, and Williams hit a resulting free throw to give Utah a bit of a cushion at 90-86.