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Jazz halt six-game skid at expense of hapless T-Wolves

Jan 29, 2011 - 5:23 AM Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - Paul Millsap notched 30 points, Andrei Kirilenko scored a season-high 27 and the Utah Jazz snapped a six-game losing streak with a 108-100 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at EnergySolutions Arena.

Millsap added eight rebounds and a season-high six steals for Utah, which got 22 points from C.J. Miles in a reserve role. The Jazz played without guard Deron Williams, who sat out with a wrist injury.

"When you've lost six straight, the most important thing is we won the game. I thought our guys really played hard," said Utah head coach Jerry Sloan.

Kevin Love recorded his 32nd straight double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have dropped 11 of their last 12 games.

Utah led 32-25 after the opening 12 minutes, but Minnesota closed to within 58-55 at halftime.

After Love made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game at 66, the Jazz responded with eight unanswered points. A Millsap layup extended the lead to 78-69, and Utah took an 85-77 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Ronnie Price drained a three-pointer to put the Jazz up 90-79, but a pair of Martell Webster free throws ignited a 9-0 T-Wolves run.

Nursing a 92-91 lead after Minnesota's Luke Ridnour hit a jumper, Utah pulled away with a 7-0 surge.

The T-Wolves made a late run to trim their deficit to three before Millsap converted a jumper and Miles sank three foul shots to seal the win.

"Our defense wasn't connected," said Minnesota head coach Kurt Rambis. "We weren't focused at that end. We knew against this team that we were going to have to do a great job maintaining our focus defensively because they do a great job of executing, moving without the basketball and they continue to pass the ball and move and cut."

Game Notes

The Jazz haven't lost seven in a row since a nine-game slide from March 4-19, 2005...Earl Watson had 10 points and a season-high 13 assists for Utah...Wesley Johnson scored 19 points for Minnesota, which got 16 points and 11 rebounds from Michael Beasley...The T-Wolves fell to 2-22 on the road and 0-10 against the Northwest Division this season. They have lost 19 straight to divisional opponents overall.