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Boozer hits game-winner as Jazz continue Sonics' misery

Nov 10, 2007 - 7:30 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Carlos Boozer was silent in the first half, but awoke in time to send the Seattle SuperSonics to their worst start in franchise history.

Boozer scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half and hit the game-winning layup with 17.6 seconds left as the Utah Jazz posted a 103-101 victory over the SuperSonics on Friday.

Boozer, who shot 10-of-19 from the floor, also grabbed 15 rebounds. Deron Williams added 14 points and 11 assists for Utah, which has won two straight. It was Boozer's sixth double-double in the club's six games played so far.

Andrei Kirilenko had 10 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds as well as a key block that sealed the win.

Seattle rookie Kevin Durant scored 20 points, stole an in-bounds pass and had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but his shot was blocked by Kirilenko.

Fellow rookie Jeff Green scored 19 points off the bench for Seattle, which is 0-6 for the first time since 1969-70.

"They (the Sonics) played really hard," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "They've got a young team - a nice, young team that's working hard. It's hard to play them. The fans got behind them, pushed them and gave them a little energy. They did a nice job."

Even though it was another disappointing loss, Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo chose to remain positive about his struggling team's effort.

"I thought our guys played great," Carlesimo said. "To come from behind the way we did from the first half when they looked like they were going to get away from us, we did a lot of good things."

It was a hotly contested fourth quarter that featured four lead changes with neither team holding a lead of more than four points.

"We made some mistakes, but we corrected them," Boozer said about the wild fourth quarter. "AK (Kirilenko) had a great game. He almost had a triple-double."

Boozer scored 12 points in the final period and combined for a pick-and-roll with Williams for the winning hoop.

"It's tough to run a pick-and-roll like Boozer and Deron did if you haven't been together for a while," Sloan said. "That's what basketball is all about, developing continuity with your players."

That came after Durant, who shot just 7-of-21 from the floor, tied the game at 101-101 with an off-balance floater with 1:00 left.

The Sonics actually had a chance to take the lead after Ronnie Brewer turned the ball over, but Delonte West gave it right back on a failed pick-and-roll as his pass was stolen by Williams with 30 seconds left.

Seattle trailed for most of the game before Nick Collison forged a 78-78 tie with 10:26 left in the fourth. It was the first tie since 2-2, and the Sonics then took their first lead since 2-0 when Durant converted a three-point play with 10:19 remaining to make the score 81-80.

"I think all we need is one game to turn this thing around," said forward Chris Wilcox, who finished with 17 points and six rebounds. "We've been in every game so far. It was tough tonight. We all played hard and we all contributed and that's all you can ask for."