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Jefferson, Jazz sting Hornets

Jan 3, 2012 - 5:56 AM Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - Al Jefferson scored 22 points while making 11-of-18 shots from the floor to lead the Utah Jazz to a 94-90 decision over the New Orleans Hornets in a back-and-forth battle.

Devin Harris added 19 points, Josh Howard had 13 and C.J. Miles contributed 11 for Utah in a game that saw 11 lead changes and nine ties as the Jazz earned their second win in three games.

Jarrett Jack recorded game-highs of 27 points and 11 assists in a losing effort.

Jason Smith, Chris Kaman and Al-Farouq Aminu combined to score 41 points off the bench for the Hornets, but it was not enough for the team to avoid its third straight loss.

"We just had some things that didn't go our way. Some shots we normally make, or we would like to have, didn't bounce down for us," said Jack.

Each team held a game-high seven-point lead at one point in the first half.

New Orleans' largest advantage came late in the first quarter on an Aminu three-point play and the Hornets took a 22-18 lead into the second quarter.

But Utah's turn came in the second as they dominated the action by a mark of 32-25 on the way to a 50-47 lead at the break.

The third quarter saw two ties and the lead change hands four times, with the final exchange coming in the closing minutes.

The Jazz held a 66-63 lead with 3:49 to go on Miles' layup, but New Orleans scored 11 of the next 15 points and led 74-70 going into the fourth quarter.

The teams traded buckets through the first four minutes of the fourth until a Howard layup and jumper tied the game at 80 with 6:07 to go.

It remained a one possession game until a late Jack turnover preceded a Paul Millsap dunk to give Utah a 91-86 lead with less than a minute remaining and the Jazz hung on from there for the win.

"I think it started with our defense," Jefferson said. "In the third quarter we kind of traded baskets back-to-back-to-back. But we kind of broke it down to what we needed to and got some stops in the last six minutes of the fourth. We proved that we could do it."

Game Notes

Utah has won 14 of the last 17 meetings between the teams...Utah outscored New Orleans in the paint 50-32...Millsap had six points and six rebounds...The Hornets made 3-of-10 three-pointers, while the Jazz went 5-for-15 from three- point range.