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Boozer, Williams have double-doubles, Jazz top NJ

Dec 17, 2009 - 3:56 AM By TOM CANAVAN AP Sports Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.(AP) -- Coming off an embarrassing loss at home to Minnesota two days ago, the Utah Jazz weren't about to start a long road trip by letting the NBA's weakest team get the better of them.

Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer recorded double-doubles, and the Jazz added to New Jersey's woes, beating the hapless Nets 108-92 on Wednesday night.

Williams had 20 points and 14 assists, while Boozer added 26 points and 10 rebounds as the Jazz won for the eighth time in 11 games and handed the Nets (2-24) their fifth straight loss.

"We're happy to get the first win of the road trip," Boozer said. "We learned our lesson the other night against Minnesota. Nothing against them, but they took it to us and won the game. We made the mistake by not being prepared for Minnesota. We knew we had to get this road trip off to a good start. Hopefully, we learned our lesson facing a desperate team desperate for a win."

Williams said the Jazz didn't need a team meeting to clear the air.

"We had some tough losses this year, but this one (to Minnesota) was tough," he said. "We didn't want to start the road trip off bad. We had to come out and play like we could play. When they made a run, it was a little bit of, 'Here we go again,' but we made plays, made shots and got it back up. They took some bad shots there and that helped us out."

Brook Lopez had 23 points and 10 rebounds for New Jersey, which got one piece of good news on Wednesday when it was announced that Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov had moved a step closer to becoming the NBA's first non-North American owner.

Prokhorov's Onexim Sports and Entertainment Holdings, and the company that owns the Nets said they had completed their agreement to create a partnership that would own the NBA team and develop the Atlantic Yards project in New York.

Reserve Paul Millsap had 13 points for Utah, which will also play at Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando and Miami on the five-game trip.

Terrence Williams added 17 points and Courtney Lee had 15 points for the Nets. All-Star guard Devin Harris had an off night, scoring nine points on 1 of 9 shooting.

New Jersey didn't have an answer for Boozer, who has scored at least 20 points in 10 of 13 games, or Deron Williams, who has had a double-double in seven of eight.

"That one-two punch did the job for them," Lee said.

The Jazz took control with a 19-8 run in the final six minutes of the second quarter. Williams, who briefly went to the bench after inadvertently stepping on Lopez's foot minutes earlier, started the stretch with a short jumper and ended it with a driving layup and a 3-pointer. Millsap also had six points and Boozer added four.

Utah also picked up its defense in the run, limiting New Jersey to 2 of 11 from the field.

The Jazz led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter and expanded the margin to 18 early in the fourth when Millsap converted a three-point play.

New Jersey made a run and closed the gap under double figures a couple of times, getting within 92-84 on a three-point play by Lopez with 5:50 to go.

However, Boozer made a layup, Andrei Kirilenko sank two free throws, Deron Williams hit a jumper and Mehmet Okur added a layup in an 8-2 run that put away the game.

"We were there in the fourth," Lopez said after posting his sixth straight double-double. "We were down a bit and then we came storming back and we were right there. It just fell apart on us at the end again. I don't think you can fault our effort though."

NOTES: Utah shot 56 percent from the field and had 31 assists, one shy of their opponent team high, recorded by the Hawks on Sunday. The Nets had only 10 players in uniform with Chris Douglas-Roberts, Yi Jianlian, Jarvis Hayes, Tony Battie and Keyon Dooling all hurt. Douglas-Roberts missed his third straight game with a knee strain. ... Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia sat next to the Nets' bench. ... Kirilenko played 24 minutes and moved past Adrian Dantley for sixth place in Jazz history for minutes played.