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Williams helps Jazz down Warriors without Boozer

Jan 6, 2009 - 6:09 AM By Tony Pizza PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) -- The Utah Jazz starters aren't strangers to double-doubles, but three on the same night from their current starting lineup is a first.

Deron Williams collected 25 points and 15 assists, Mehmet Okur added 20 and 11 rebounds and Paul Millsap tallied his NBA-leading 18th straight double-double with 19 and 14 as the Jazz outlasted the Golden State Warriors, 119-114, at home Monday night.

"This has been kind of a long and tough season so far, and we've got a long way to go," Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan, whose team is one-game removed from a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.

"Everybody's got to contribute as much as they can."

The Jazz certainly had that effort from their big three.

Williams, who looks as close to 100 percent as he has since rolling his ankle in the preseason, recorded his 12th double-double of the season, as did Okur. Millsap's feat tied John Stockton for the team record for most consecutive double-doubles.

"He made a couple blocks, got a couple steals, knocked the ball out of people's hands," Sloan said of Millsap. "I thought he did a terrific tonight. He stays around the basket and he stays after it."

The game was another high-scoring affair between two teams that became familiar with barn-burner matchups against one another in the playoffs two years ago.

Andris Biedrins, who had 10 rebounds in the third quarter alone, was the lone Warrior to record a double-double. He finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds.

"We have trouble rebounding every night," Warriors head coach Don Nelson said. "Biedrins always gets rebounds. It was the other positions, we're just not getting rebounders at our other positions."

Jamal Crawford led all scorers with 28 points for the Warriors, who lost star forward Stephen Jackson, who hurt his hamstring as time expired in the first half. Golden State kept the second-half interesting with several offensive spurts.

"I think our team really played extremely hard tonight," Warriors forward Corey Maggette said. "I think a big factor later in the game was (Jackson) going down with a torn hamstring.

"That's what we've been going through for the past month right now, so hopefully we can get him back healthy."

Utah's Andrei Kirilenko started the fourth quarter on fire and nearly single-handedly led the Jazz on a 6-0 run to make it 100-91. The Warriors answered right back, however, with consecutive 3-point baskets by Anthony Morrow and C.J. Watson to keep Golden State within three.

Utah would extend its lead to seven points several times in the finally period only to see the Warriors whittle the Jazz lead back down to three.

"I thought we played pretty well for most of the game," Nelson said. "We made some errors that cost us, but it was a lot better than we had played the previous two games."

Even when the Jazz threatened to pull away for good behind several defensive plays late in the game that led to breakaway points and a 112-105 lead, the Warriors refused to go away.

It wasn't until Ronnie Brewer capped off a three-point play with 1:14 to play to give Utah its final seven-point lead that things looked in hand for Utah.

One of six Utah steals, followed by a Jazz possession that took more than 30 seconds off the clock started the fouling game for Golden State. Brewer missed two free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining, but it was not enough time for the Warriors to complete the comeback.

"We definitely needed this one, to build our confidence hopefully at home," Williams. "We've got some tough games ahead of us, but this is time where we can go on a streak. We had a successful January last year, why not do it again?"

Golden State got several strong efforts from unfamiliar faces as Morrow and Brandan Wright, who finished with 14 and eight points respectively, both played a large hand in several key Warrior spurts.

Six Jazz players finished in double figures in all, including Andrei Kirilenko, who finished with 15 points and five rebounds off the Jazz's bench.

The Warriors weren't far behind as five players scored in double figures, including Maggette, who returned from a 15-game layoff with a right hamstring injury and finished with 23 points to lead Golden State's 42-38 bench advantage.

Jazz fans got a scare near the end of the third quarter when Maggette knocked Williams to the floor after a hard foul on a fast break. Utah is already without Carlos Boozer who missed his 23rd straight game with a strained left quadriceps tendon.

Jackson's injury came at an awkward moment with 5.1 seconds left in the first half as Deron Williams got several screens that lead to a tear-drop shot in the lane with three-tenths of a second left. Jackson came up limping after the play and did not return.