Utah Jazz: Short-handed Jazz fly past Sixers

By Tim Buckley, Deseret News

Published: Saturday, Nov. 14 2009 12:00 a.m. MST

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Philadelphia 76ers' Elton Brand, center, has the ball stripped by Utah's Carlos Boozer, right, as Wes Matthews defends in the first half .

Matt Slocum, Associated Press

Summary

From behind closed doors, screams and shouts were heard. And when they opened shortly after the Jazz's 112-90 win Friday night, it sounded like a frat party.

PHILADELPHIA — From behind closed doors, screams and shouts were heard.

And when they opened shortly after the Jazz's 112-90 win Friday night over the Philadelphia 76ers, it sounded like a frat party inside the visiting locker room at Wachovia Center here.

Understandably so, too, as 4-5 Utah — without starting point guard Deron Williams, who returned to Salt Lake City earlier Friday to be with an ailing daughter — won despite starting two rookies and going most of the way with just seven players.

"We just had a lot of fun tonight," forward Carlos Boozer said.

Did they ever.

All five starters scored in double figures — topped by Boozer and his 24-point, 12-rebound double-double — and so did Andrei Kirilenko and Paul Millsap off the bench.

Rookie point Eric Maynor, who opened in Williams' place because backup Ronnie Price was injured and out, had a double-double of his own, 13 points and 11 rebounds.

And fellow rookie Wesley Matthews, like Maynor making his first NBA start, scored a season-high 16, including nine on 3-for-4 shooting from 3-point range.

"The rookies were good. They played well for us," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "You know, in the absence of Deron Williams, you don't know what you're gonna get.

"But our guys played, I thought, a terrific game — tried to play together, and pass the ball to each other and made some nice plays.

"Guys got open," he added. "They got easier baskets — guys cutting to the basket, instead of holding it and holding it and holding it for jump shots."

They ran, in other words, Sloan's offense as it's designed to be played, replace with layups galore.

"We ran the system, we set screens, we shared the ball, we moved the ball. If somebody was open, we hit them," Boozer said. "We didn't wait for the assist pass. We just hit the guy that was open, and that makes the offense move crisper."

Combine that with some decent defense, and it's no wonder Utah — ahead at the break by 14 after scoring a season-high 64 first-half points — led by double digits throughout the second half.

The Jazz advantage stood at a game-high 26 when Kirilenko drained a trey try early in the fourth quarter, and it never dwindled under 14 after that.