Utah Jazz pay homage to Miller with win over Hornets

Just one day after the death of Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller, his players honored him in the best way they knew how: by winning a basketball game.

The heavy-hearted Jazz led nearly from wire-to-wire in beating the New Orleans Hornets, 102-88, on Saturday night at EnergySolutions Arena.

"The great thing about Larry," said Jazz forward Matt Harpring, "is that he cared about winning. … I'm sure Larry's looking down and smiling."

Following the victory Jazz point guard Deron Williams, who led the team with 20 points and 13 assists, delivered his final outstanding pass of the night. He handed the game ball over to Gail Miller, Larry's widow, courtside next to an empty seat that had usually been occupied by the team owner. The Jazz players signed the game ball afterward before returning it to the Miller family.

"We just wanted to win this game for Larry," said Williams.

Jazz center Mehmet Okur scored a game-high 25 points and made all three of his 3-point attempts to help make the victory possible. After his final trey in the fourth quarter with 4:37 remaining in the game gave Utah a 96-81 lead, Okur glanced over to where Miller used to sit.

"I thought about him when I hit that shot," said Okur. "I hit it for him. We won the ballgame for him."

The victory was Utah's fourth in a row, giving it a 33-23 record overall, pulling it into a virtual tie with 32-22 New Orleans. In addition, it was Utah's second win in two tries against the Hornets, a team the Jazz play only three times this season. That means Utah has clinched the tie-breaker edge over New Orleans should the two teams finish knotted at season's end.

"It's been a tough day, I think, for everybody," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "Fortunately we were able to win the game. … It's hard to talk basketball right now."

New Orleans scored the first bucket of the game and took a 10-9 advantage on a Peja Stojakovic jumper with eight minutes to play in the opening quarter. But Utah forward C.J. Miles made a driving layup to give the Jazz an 11-10 lead and Utah never trailed again.

The Jazz built up a lead of as many as 15 points in the second quarter, but there was still suspense in the second half. Chris Paul, who finished with 24 points and seven assists, led an 11-0 run in the third quarter to pull the Hornets to within two, at 73-71.

Utah's Kyle Korver scored five points during a 6-0 run to end the third quarter and the Jazz slowly pulled away in the fourth to put the game out of reach.