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Jazz seek continued success at home vs. Warriors

Mar 17, 2012 - 3:22 PM (Sports Network) - The Utah Jazz are still alive in the postseason race and hope to move closer to that goal when they entertain the Golden State Warriors tonight at EnergySolutions Arena.

The Jazz have won four in a row at home and improved to 16-6 in Salt Lake City this season with Thursday's 111-105 overtime triumph versus the Minnesota Timberwolves. Gordon Hayward scored a season-high 26 points and Devin Harris added 18 for Utah, which got 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals from Paul Millsap. Alec Burks finished with 15 points for the Jazz, who bounced back from a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday and won for the sixth time in 10 tries overall. Utah is 2 1/2 games off the final playoff spot in the West.

"Gordon did a great job," Utah head coach Tyrone Corbin said. "He didn't hang his head. He continued to fight. He missed the rebound at the end of the game, but he didn't feel sorry for himself. He came back and made some big plays for us down the stretch."

Al Jefferson finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds in the win, but is expected to miss this weekend's action due to the death of his grandmother earlier this week. Jazz guard Earl Watson is questionable for Saturday with a sprained left ankle.

Golden State will try to snap a two-game slide tonight and had won three in a row before coming up short in games against Boston and Milwaukee. The Warriors suffered a 120-98 loss Friday against former leading scorer and current Buck Monta Ellis, who was shipped to Brew City in a five-player deal before the trade deadline. Ellis scored 18 points against his former team, while David Lee led Golden State with 22 points and nine rebounds.

"We played a bad ballgame. They out-played us from the start," said Lee. "Maybe if it would have been a little more competitive there would have been a little more emotion involved."

Klay Thompson and Dorell Wright scored 19 and 17 points, respectively, for the Warriors, who got 13 points from Nate Robinson and shot 44.3 percent. The Warriors were down by as many as 30 points and were outrebounded, 54-35.

Thompson has scored in double figures in each of the last seven games.

The Warriors are fighting for a postseason berth in the West and sit 4 1/2 games off the pace. They are 8-11 away from Oakland this season and have won three in a row as the guest.

Golden State and Utah have split two of four meetings this season and will square off again April 6 in Utah. Golden State has won four of the last six contests in this series, but has lost eight of 10 and 27 of its last 31 trips to Salt Lake City.