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Boozer, Williams lead Jazz over hapless Heat

Dec 4, 2007 - 6:03 AM By Chris Bellamy PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) -- The last time the Utah Jazz beat the Miami Heat, Carlos Boozer was still playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Karl Malone was closing out his Hall-of-Fame career in Los Angeles and Deron Williams was still a sophomore at Illinois.

The duo of Boozer and Williams got its first win over Dwyane Wade and the Heat as both of the young stars put together a double-double and combined for 48 points in a 110-101 victory on Monday night.

"This team brings the best out of you," Wade said of the Jazz. "Previously, we won, but tonight they played a great game. They just made more plays when it counted."

The one common denominator for Utah was Andrei Kirilenko, who scored 26 points the last time Utah defeated Miami, 97-85, at the Delta Center on January 15, 2004.

The 6-9 Russian made his presence felt once again as the Jazz broke a seven-game losing streak to the Heat.

Utah escaped a furious fourth-quarter run from Miami, which came back from as many as 11 down to take a lead at one point.

"They put you in a half-court game. They've done it every year they've come in and played us," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "Sometimes, we get a little bit anxious and try to do great plays. Bottom line is you better execute against them because they're going to make it tough for you."

Halfway through the period, Jason Williams converted a steal into a three-point play as the Heat took an 87-85 lead. After Boozer answered with a jumper for Utah, Williams found Wade for an alley-oop dunk to once again put Miami up by a pair.

But the Jazz had some highlight-reel fodder of their own. At the 5:13 mark, Williams found a streaking Ronnie Brewer for a baseline alley-oop as the Jazz took back the lead and held it for good this time.

"I think it just rubbed off from the last game, we just carried that over," Williams said of the Utah offense, which had 38 assists on 42 buckets Monday night. "I thought we did a great job and made a lot of extra passes the last game, and it just rubbed off tonight.

"We were able to execute and get pretty much anything we wanted, especially down the stretch."

With just over a minute left, Mehmet Okur's fourth 3-pointer of the night all but sealed the deal, giving the Jazz a 103-94 advantage. It was a welcome breakout game for Okur, who came in averaging just 11.9 points and missed the team's last game with back spasms.

But he returned to the lineup in strong form, finishing with a team-high 25 on 10-of-14 shooting.

"I felt great, especially in the morning at the shootaround," Okur said. "I just came out there, gave my best, and my team did such a good job of creating open shots for me."

After playing from behind for most of the first half, the Jazz seemed to take control midway through the third quarter.

At 63-63, Kirilenko helped ignite an 11-0 run, leading a fast break and finding Boozer underneath for a three-point play that snapped the tie.

Moments later, Williams drove inside for a hard-fought layup to increase Utah's edge to six. Kirilenko blocked Alonzo Mourning on the other end and Williams punctuated the run with a 3-pointer as the Jazz took a 74-63 lead at the 3:37 mark of the third period.

"There was a little stretch of this game where it was, one pass, shot. That's when they were staying in the game with us," Williams said. "I think in the second half we came out and made the extra passes and did a better job."

However, the Heat did just as much to shoot themselves in the foot as the Jazz did to snatch the momentum. During the 11-0 run, Miami went 0-of-4 from the free-throw line.

But just as the Jazz took control, they just as quickly relinquished it.

Williams and Kirilenko took their scheduled breathers on the bench around the four-minute mark of the third and, not coincidentally, the Heat immediately got right back into it.

Wade answered with two consecutive buckets as his club managed to score the last eight points of the third period to cut the deficit to just three.

"We had a little lead, a 10-point lead in the ballgame, and came out and we couldn't execute one play," Sloan said. "I don't care who's out there, we've got to execute something, so we have some semblance of order."

But with the first unit back on the floor for the length of the final quarter, the Jazz had just enough to escape with a victory, their eighth straight at home.

"We executed. We got good shots," Sloan said. "It wasn't hocus-pocus out there. It looked like guys were trying to help each other, they made the extra pass, gave us a chance to get the ball inside and get to the free-throw line. That's how you win games."

Kirilenko, who had his third career triple-double Friday night in a blowout victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, had another solid all-around performance with 10 points, seven boards and nine assists.

Williams scored 24 points and dished out 15 assists and Boozer who earlier in the day was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for November had 24 points and 14 rebounds.

Wade led the Heat with 26 points on 10-of-20 from the field to go with 10 assists and five steals. Ricky Davis and Jason Williams added 15 points apiece.