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Jazz entertain Wolves in Salt Lake City

Mar 16, 2011 - 3:03 PM (Sports Network) - Northwest Division rivals clash in Salt Lake City Wednesday when the banged-up Utah Jazz entertain the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Utah is coming off a big 112-107 overtime win over the Sixers on Monday. Al Jefferson ended with 30 points, 17 rebounds and six assists in that one for the Jazz, who snapped a two-game skid and are now two games behind Memphis for the final postseason spot in the Western Conference with 14 games to play.

C.J. Miles and Devin Harris each donated 19 points for Utah, which earned the win despite giving up a 21-point lead. Andrei Kirilenko chipped in with 16 points and six assists as the Jazz improved to 4-10 under new coach Ty Corbin.

"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."

The injuries for Utah, however, continue to mount. The Jazz have already been without Paul Millsap (left knee tendinitis) for four games while point guard Devin Harris left against the Sixers with 19.7 seconds remaining in regulation with s strained hamstring and rookie sharp-shooter Gordon Hayward is out with a sprained left foot. All will be game-time decisions for tonight's contest as will defensive stopper Raja Bell and backup point guard Ronnie Price, who are both struggling with sprained toes. Big man Mehmet Okur remains out with a strained lower back.

The Wolves, meanwhile, were routed by Golden State, 100-77, in their last encounter. Stephen Curry scored 24 points and the Warriors not only coasted to the win but also halted Kevin Love's NBA post merger-record double-double streak at 53 games.

Love, who was slowed by a thigh injury, was pulled with 4:08 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Timberwolves trailing by 23 points. He scored just six points and had 12 rebounds -- the first time since November 19 that he failed to reach double digits in both categories.

"I feel a big weight off my shoulders," said Love. "I'm pretty happy with what I did. I don't think we should look at it as the streak came to an end. For me it's a time to reflect on what I did well."

Deserving most of the credit was David Lee, who was physical with Love all night. Despite playing more than 36 minutes, Lee scored just eight points -- well below his season average of 16.

"The player who was going to guard Love tonight wasn't going to be involved in the offense at all," said Warriors head coach Keith Smart. "To get to where we wanted to be tonight, someone had to sacrifice and that's what [Lee] did."

Michael Beasley and Martell Webster both scored 16 for Minnesota and Luke Ridnour chipped in 13. The Timberwolves committed 27 turnovers and their 77 points were a season-low for a Golden State opponent.

Utah has won two of the three meetings between the two clubs this season but Minnesota stopped a four-game slide versus the Jazz with a win in the last encounter on March 11 in the Twin Cities.