Utah Jazz: Dismal stretches doom Jazz

ORLANDO — The Jazz felt they could play with the Orlando Magic, because they've beaten the NBA's defending Eastern Conference champions once already this month.

But with the way Dwight Howard was controlling things inside and J.J. Redick was knocking down shots from the outside, it's no wonder the 21-7 Magic held on for a 104-99 victory over Utah on Monday night at sold-out Amway Arena.

"They've got a monster inside in Dwight," Jazz forward Carlos Boozer said, "and they've got all good 3-pointer shooters around him."

The hottest Monday was Redick, who hit 7-for-9 from the field and scored 11 of his 20 off-the-bench points in the fourth quarter to help drop — along with Howard's game-high 21 — the 16-12 Jazz to 2-2 on a five-game road trip that concludes Wednesday night at Miami.

"He's playing like he did in college," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said of Redick, who also was 2-for-2 from 3-point range. "Everybody in the world knows he can shoot it. He certainly did a great job for them. He made shots. He made some tough shots."

"He's been playing great. If you watch J.J. maybe over the last 10 games, he's been ballin'," said Boozer, who like Redick played at Duke, after scoring 17. "For him, his confidence is growing like crazy. He knows what it takes, now, finally to play in this league and be effective. He's on the right team with a guy that gets double-teamed a lot in Dwight (Howard), and he's playing aggressive.

"For him, I am proud of him, happy for him. He came in and gave them a big lift."

What deflated the Jazz most were a couple of dismal stretches in the fourth quarter, one midway through the period with five straight possessions in which they came up dry and the other after two Andrei Kirilenko 3-pointers pulled Utah — which had been tied at 86 — to within two at 96-94.

Vince Carter answered Kirilenko's latter trey with two free throws, and then all went wrong for the Jazz again.

First, Kirilenko missed yet another 3-point attempt. Then Boozer lost the ball going for a layup, a play on which Howard was credited with a block. Mehmet Okur later airballed a trey try from the left corner, and Williams missed when he pulled up on Carter from behind the 3-point line with 33.8 seconds to go.

The Magic, meanwhile, went 4-for-6 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter alone, including Rashard Lewis' 2-for-2.