SALT LAKE CITY (AP)—After running slightly behind New Orleans in the first quarter, the Utah Jazz ran over the Hornets in the second and kept on going.
The Jazz held the weary Hornets to two field goals in the second period during a 116-90 victory Wednesday night, pulling down more than twice as many rebounds and shutting down everybody except Chris Paul.
Paul Millsap extended his NBA-leading streak of double-doubles to 19 games with 27 points and 14 rebounds as the Jazz easily won the first of three meetings against the Hornets, who were exhausted from a win over the Lakers in Los Angeles the night before.
We expected them to come in and give us a good ball game—especially coming off that good win against the Lakers, said Millsap, who also had five assists. We came out with more energy and more intensity and came out with the win.
Paul had 26 points and seven assists for the Hornets, but got little help from his teammates as Utah controlled everything inside and outrebounded New Orleans 55-26.
The Hornets held off the Lakers 116-105 the night before and the fatigue set in after the first period Wednesday.
Utah led 58-46 at halftime after New Orleans shot 2-for-13 from the floor and was outrebounded 18-7 during the second quarter.
New Orleans Hornets forward Da
AP - Jan 7, 11:00 pm EST
Obviously its a long trip for them to have to come up here, but thats the way it works out. You try to take advantage as much as you can, Utah coach Jerry Sloan said.
Mehmet Okur added 20 points for Utah, and Andrei Kirilenko had 13 points and eight rebounds. Kyle Korver had 15 points, Matt Harpring 10, and Deron Williams, who has been fighting a cold, added eight assists.
I just tried to push the ball and get everybody involved, Williams said. Luckily everybody else stepped up and I didnt have to do much scoring tonight.
The Jazz are 9-2 in the head-to-head meetings between Williams and Paul, the U.S. Olympic teammates who have been compared since Utah passed over Paul to pick Williams third overall in the 2005 draft.
Paul had the better scoring night, but Williams and the Jazz ran away with the game after outscoring the Hornets 29-13 in the second quarter.
Millsap scored nine in the period and had 13 points and nine boards in the first half. He grabbed his 10th rebound in the first minute of the third period, then scored six straight as the Jazz pulled ahead 65-46. He started with a dunk on an alley-oop from Ronnie Brewer and also had a reverse layup to spark a 10-2 run to open the period for the Jazz.
Utah Jazz president Randy Rigb
AP - Jan 7, 10:58 pm EST
I dont know what were going to do with Millsap. He keeps getting better every game, Sloan said.
Paul was the only member of the Hornets who appeared to have any energy left after the first period, but he wasnt nearly enough to beat the Jazz by himself.
David West, who scored 40 points against the Lakers on Tuesday, had 13 points and led the Hornets with six rebounds—less than half of Millsaps total. James Posey was the only other Hornet to score in double figures, finishing with 11 points.
The second quarter, they really jumped on it, Paul said. When you let a team like this get easy buckets, then they get rolling.
Notes
John Stockton holds the Utah record with 27 double-doubles in a row, set in 1989. Utah radio broadcaster Hot Rod Hundley called his 3,000th Jazz game. Utah G C.J. Miles sprained his right ankle when he came down from making a jump shot late in the third quarter. Utah was 31-for-44 from the foul line whale New Orleans was 18-for-21. The Hornets were fresh in the first period despite the fast pace they had the night before in LA and led 33-29 after the first period. Paul had 12 points, including a 3-pointer followed by a three-point play as New Orleans took a 20-11 lead, the Utah started to rally.
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