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Jefferson, Jazz hold off Sixers in overtime

Mar 15, 2011 - 4:40 AM Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - Al Jefferson made a key jumper with 42.4 seconds remaining in overtime, as the Utah Jazz held off the Philadelphia 76ers, 112-107.

Jefferson ended with 30 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for the Jazz, who snapped a two-game skid. C.J. Miles and Devin Harris each donated 19 points for Utah, which got 16 points and six assists from Andrei Kirilenko.

"I guess we don't want an easy game," Jefferson said. "We try to make it hard on ourselves to win. But we'll take it any way we can get it."

Andre Iguodala finished with 23 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Sixers, who fell short despite coming back from a 21-point deficit.

Lou Williams chipped in with 22 points for Philadelphia, which was trying to sweep the home-and-home season series with the Jazz for the first time since the 1987-88 season.

Elton Brand and Jodie Meeks ended with 19 and 17 points, respectively, in defeat.

Down by eight, 99-91, with 2 1/2 minutes to play in regulation, the Sixers ripped off 11 straight points to take their first lead of the game.

After Williams made a running jumper, Iguodala made a jumper, three-pointer and dunk to give Philly a 100-99 edge with 1:03 left. Williams capped the surge with a pair of free throws to make it a 102-99 game with 19 seconds remaining.

Jefferson stopped the bleeding with a tip-in at the other end. Meeks was then sent to the foul line, but hit just one shot to make it a 103-101 contest.

Iguodala blocked Miles at the opposite end with the clock winding down, but Miles got the ball back and made a layup to tie the contest with 9.1 ticks left.

With a chance to win the game, Iguodala missed a 16-foot jumper.

Holding a 108-107 edge with over a minute to play in overtime, Jefferson and Kirilenko put the game away for Utah.

Jefferson made a big turnaround jumper with 42.4 seconds remaining to make it a 110-107 contest. Iguodala went for the tie at the other end, but was way off the mark with a corner three-pointer.

Kirilenko was good on a pair of free throws to give the Jazz a five-point cushion with 18.5 seconds left. Iguodala missed another three-pointer to end the game.

"We played a little harder and played with some heart," Williams said. "They did a really good job of making shots in that first half and we were letting them do whatever they wanted to do and we came out in that second half and were just a lot more aggressive and were able to claw our way back in and you know just fell short."

The game belonged to Utah early on, with the home team leading 28-23 after 12 minutes of action.

The Jazz then used some sharp shooting in the second period to build a big lead. Holding a 38-33 edge with over seven minutes left, Utah went on a 20-4 run. Jefferson tallied seven points during the stretch to make it a 58-37 game.

Philly cut its deficit to 60-42 on Thaddeus Young's layup before the break.

The Sixers started their comeback by scoring 11 of the second half's first 12 points. Brand's jumper cut the gap to 61-53 with less than 9 1/2 minutes to go.

Meeks' trey and Williams' layup at the end of the frame had Philadelphia within 13, 82-69, heading to the fourth.

The 76ers chipped away at their deficit in the fourth and made a late charge to send the game into overtime.

Game Notes

The Sixers beat Utah, 96-85, on January 22. Philadelphia has lost six straight and 20 of its last 22 trips to Salt Lake City...The 76ers fell to 0-2 on a five-game road trip...The Jazz went 27-of-31 from the foul line, while the Sixers went 17-of-20 from the charity stripe.