Utah Jazz: Millsap creams hometown team

Louisiana, Utah thanks you.

Again.

For the third time, actually.

The Beehive State's most-recent steal-of-a-pickup from the Bayou State — none other than Louisiana Tech rebounding phenom Paul Millsap, of course — had yet another Cajun-hot performance. He also had yet another double-double Wednesday night as the Utah Jazz made jambalaya of the visiting New Orleans Hornets in a 116-90 blowout win.

"It's always good to get a win over a team that's back home," said a smiling Millsap, who went to Grambling High and became a La. Tech star a la Karl Malone. "And they looked over me in the draft."

He grinned while adding that it's fun to prove teams wrong that let him slip deep into the second round to the Jazz.

While Utahns have their pens out writing thank-you cards on behalf of the 47th pick of the 2006 Draft, they might want to start a massive write-in campaign for the upcoming NBA All-Star Game. He isn't on the ballot, but you wouldn't know that by his play while filling in for the injured Carlos Boozer.

Millsap spiced up the court with his NBA-leading 19th consecutive double-double against his home-state team.

The rapidly rising young star notched game-highs of 27 points on 9-for-15 shooting and 14 rebounds, prompting some big-time praise from his coach and the Jazz's point guard.

An under-the-weather Deron Williams called Millsap's dominating outing "a monster game." And it wasn't just on offense. Millsap also played some tough defense against Hornets' forward David West, who only scored 13 points a night after exploding for 40 in a win over the Lakers.

Jerry Sloan couldn't stop gushing about Millsap's latest energetic, hustling performance, which helped Utah outrebound New Orleans 55-26.

"I don't know what we're going to do with Millsap. He keeps getting better every game it seems like," Sloan said. "He's played very hard. It's really exciting to see. The opportunity came to him, he took advantage of it and really helped himself with his determination to make himself a better player."

Sloan only wishes other youngsters would follow the example of this 23-year-old, who is the lowest-paid player on the team — for now. Millsap is playing his way into a huge contract when he becomes a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

"I wish all young guys could take that route, and if they did I think we'd all be a lot happier," he said.

Millsap's work ethic, which was evident with his six offensive rebounds and multiple putback buckets, is what Sloan loves most about the supposedly undersized 6-8 forward.

"He worked, never said a word, worked hard every day and still does," Sloan said. "It's nice to see him be rewarded for it, eventually. He's doing things to help us win games."