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Boozer, Millsap lead Jazz to sixth straight win

Nov 21, 2006 - 4:36 AM SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) -- With the Utah Jazz's winning streak in jeopardy, Carlos Boozer and his teammates along the front line answered the call.

Boozer scored a season-high 35 points and rookie Paul Millsap added a career-high 20 points off the bench to lead the red-hot Jazz to a 101-96 triumph over the Toronto Raptors.

It was the sixth straight victory for Utah, which is off to a league-best 10-1 start despite trailing most of the way Monday.

Boozer, who has been dominant this season after missing much of the past two campaigns with an assortment of injuries, grabbed nine rebounds and made 14-of-16 shots (88 percent). The 6-9 power forward was quiet through most of the fourth quarter before making several key baskets down the stretch.

"We've got to get a lot better," Boozer said. "We've got to come out with better energy. The second half was great, but the first half was terrible. It was like night and day on our part."

Utah trailed, 85-77, with 10:15 remaining when the 6-8 Millsap sparked a 14-0 run to give his team the lead for good. The rookie forward scored six points during the outburst, which was capped by Mehmet Okur's 3-pointer with 5:37 left to give the Jazz a 91-85 lead.

"That's what you're going to expect from me every night," Millsap said. "The coaches want that, and everybody else wants that. Not too many people want to dive on the floor and get loose balls and things like that, but that's what I bring to the table."

"Paul Millsap again was terrific out there tonight," added Utah coach Jerry Sloan, who recorded his 900th victory with the club. "I don't know that I've seen a guy in a long time that plays as hard as he does, goes out for loose balls, rebounds the basketball. It's amazing how many standing ovations the guy gets. That's what the fans like to see, they like to see people bust their rear end."

A second-round draft pick, Millsap has seen more minutes of late while starting small forward Andrei Kirilenko has been sidelined with a sprained right ankle.

"(Millsap) is a stud," Boozer said. "He's growing up real fast. He's getting better really quickly, and most rookies get better in the second half of the season. But he's been good from day one."

The 6-11 Okur scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while Deron Williams added 12 points and eight assists for Utah, which held a 51-36 edge on the glass.

"I thought we had a tremendous comeback again," Sloan said. "That team played hard and probably deserved to win the ballgame in many ways. But fortunately we were able to make a couple plays and make a couple stops in the end that gave us a chance to win the game."

Chris Bosh had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost five straight.

"They made some good shots, they got some calls down the stretch," Bosh said. "It's tough. We fought hard. We got to the basket on a lot of occasions but we just came up a little short."