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Bucks, Jazz hook up in Salt Lake

Jan 2, 2014 - 3:10 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - There are 11 teams in the NBA with more wins than the Milwaukee Bucks and Utah Jazz combined.

The Bucks and Jazz are last in their respective divisions and will clash Thursday at Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City.

Utah sits at the bottom of the Northwest Division with a 10-24 mark and has rotated wins and losses over the past eight games, In Monday's 83-80 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats, Trey Burke totaled 21 points and five assists and Alec Burks scored 14 points off the bench.

Marvin Williams and Derrick Favors netted 13 points apiece for the Jazz, who have won two in a row at home and are 5-10 as the host.

"I think a lot of these games for this young group of guys is about learning to finish games. Hopefully we will finish teams off without making it close and to be able to make plays down the stretch," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said.

Milwaukee, which is in the cellar of the Central Division and owners of a 7-24 ledger, will resume a three-game western jaunt Thursday and opened the trip with Tuesday's 94-79 win against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Bucks opened the game on a 14-point run and the Lakers didn't score until there was less than seven minutes to go in the opening stanza. A 32-point performance in the third quarter propelled Milwaukee to victory.

Brandon Knight paced the Bucks with a career-high 37 points to go along with eight rebounds and four steals. Knight made 15-of-25 shots, while Ersan Ilyasova ended with 15 points and 12 rebounds for Milwaukee, which won for just the second time in the past 10 games and had lost four in a row on the road. The Bucks are 4-12 as the visitor this season.

"Our start helped a great deal," said Bucks coach Larry Drew. "Brandon played a terrific game at both ends. We fed off him."

Luke Ridnour scored 11 points and both Larry Sanders and Giannis Antetokounmpo grabbed 11 rebounds in Milwaukee's first road win against a Western Conference opponent.

The Bucks will close out the trek Saturday at Phoenix and split a pair of meetings with Utah a season ago. Milwaukee has lost four of five games to the Jazz and is winless in 11 straight trips to Salt Lake City. The Bucks are 3-21 in the past 24 contests in Utah.