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Jazz beat playoff-bound Hornets

Apr 12, 2011 - 4:38 AM New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - C.J. Miles and Devin Harris both scored 18 points to help the Utah Jazz top the playoff-bound New Orleans Hornets, 90-78.

Paul Millsap added 16 points and Gordon Hayward netted 14 for the Jazz, who snapped a two-game slide. They will close out their season Wednesday at home against Denver.

"Even though we aren't going to the playoffs, we're playing for pride, playing to compete," Miles said. "We came out and executed our stuff tonight."

Chris Paul finished with 15 points for the Hornets, who lost their second in a row and fell into eighth place in the Western Conference. They are a half-game behind Memphis and 1 1/2 games behind Portland - both of which were idle Monday and will play Tuesday.

New Orleans plays at Dallas on Wednesday to close its regular season.

"A lot of this falls on me," said Hornets head coach Monty Williams. "You have to get your team ready to play every night. It's not an 80-game season or whatever you want to call it. It's an 82-game season."

Utah never trailed after getting off to a hot start. It began the game on a 10-2 run and grabbed a 27-15 lead when Miles drilled a three-pointer late in the first quarter.

The Jazz were ahead 29-21 moving to the second, which was low-scoring despite Utah making 9-of-17 shots. None of the Jazz's made field goals in the period were three-pointers, and they didn't attempt a free throw on the way to a 47-37 halftime advantage.

Utah led by multiple possessions throughout the third quarter, after which it had a 70-57 margin. It pushed the lead as high as 17 in cruising to the finish.

Game Notes

New Orleans held a 42-32 rebounding advantage, but shot just 38 percent...Utah shot 55 percent...The Jazz finished the season with an 18-23 road record...The Hornets were 28-13 at home...The teams split the four-game season series.