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NBA: Boozer leads Jazz to win over Bulls
By The Associated Press
Friday, November 27, 2009 | No comments posted.
SALT LAKE CITY — Carlos Boozer’s arms never seemed to stop moving.
He was either making shots, blocking them or grabbing every rebound that came within his grasp. And when the whistle blew, he was still in motion pumping his fists.
Boozer scored 28 points on 12-for-14 shooting to lead the Utah Jazz to a 105-86 win over the slumping Chicago Bulls on Thursday night. He also had eight rebounds, five assists and three of the Jazz’s season-high eight blocks.
“You can see he’s back to where he was a couple of years ago when he was an All-Star,” Utah point guard Deron Williams said. “Hopefully he can just keep producing like this because he’s playing great on both ends of the floor.”
Williams had 21 points and six assists for the Jazz, who blew open the game by making 10 of their first 11 shots in the fourth quarter.
The Jazz dominated inside, outscoring the Bulls 62-42 and finished 45-for-74 from the floor. Utah had a better shooting percentage from the field than at the foul line, where the Jazz went 13-for-23.
Boozer made his first seven shots and didn’t miss until the second half. He only missed once more and was hitting from the outside as well as driving for layups and dunks.
Boozer had one of his best games of the season against a team he said over the summer he wouldn’t mind playing for during an interview with a Chicago radio station. But the trade Boozer talked about on the air never materialized and Boozer was playing against the Bulls instead of for them.
He seemed to be enjoying it.
“I’m in a great groove, having a good time out there,” Boozer said. “We have fun out there. If we play like that we can compete with anybody.”
The Jazz had been booed loudly just two nights before in a loss at home to Oklahoma City, but on Thursday there was nothing but cheering.
“It was kind of a totally different team,” coach Jerry Sloan said. “We were a lot more alive and a lot more aggressive than we were the other night.”
Luol Deng had 26 points and eight rebounds for Chicago, and Derrick Rose had 19 points. James Johnson was the only Chicago player other than Rose and Deng to score in double figures, finishing with 10.
The Bulls lost their fourth straight and fell to 1-4 on a six-game trip, which ends Monday night in Milwaukee.
“We didn’t shoot the basketball well, especially in the second half,” Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said. “We could never really put up a fight to get back in it and put some pressure on them.”
Not with the way the Jazz were shooting. Utah hadn’t shot above 60 percent since March 2008.
Mehmet Okur scored 14 points, Ronnie Brewer had 15 points and six assists, and Paul Millsap finished with 12 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz.
Utah had much more energy than in Tuesday’s loss to the Thunder, which forced the Jazz into 24 turnovers. Utah cut that total to 14 against the Bulls.
“We just looked like a completely different team tonight,” Williams said. “I guess that last one stung us a little bit.”
Utah led 81-65 at the end of the third and opened the fourth on a 10-3 run, taking an 87-68 lead on an alley-oop from Williams to Brewer with 10:43 left to play. Chicago called time out, but couldn’t score and Williams followed with a jumper from the top of the key and Andrei Kirilenko drove the baseline for a dunk that put the Jazz up 91-68
The Jazz made 10 of their first 11 shots in the period and continued to play pesky defense the rest of the way.
Boozer was 7 for 7 in the first half for 16 points, and with six rebounds and five assists, including a pass to Brewer for a power dunk with 3.6 seconds left that gave the Jazz a 57-40 halftime lead.
Magic 93, Hawks 76: Dwight Howard had 22 points and 17 rebounds, Vince Carter added 21 points as Orlando beat Atlanta on Thursday night.
The Hawks, attempting to tie Phoenix for the NBA’s best record, dropped to 11-4. They missed a chance to improve to 8-0 at home for the first time since 1993-94.
Orlando wiped away the disappointment of a one-point home loss to Miami on Wednesday night with its sixth win in seven games.
Joe Johnson had 22 points for the Hawks, a half-game behind Orlando for the Eastern Conference and Southeast Division lead.
He was either making shots, blocking them or grabbing every rebound that came within his grasp. And when the whistle blew, he was still in motion pumping his fists.
Boozer scored 28 points on 12-for-14 shooting to lead the Utah Jazz to a 105-86 win over the slumping Chicago Bulls on Thursday night. He also had eight rebounds, five assists and three of the Jazz’s season-high eight blocks.
“You can see he’s back to where he was a couple of years ago when he was an All-Star,” Utah point guard Deron Williams said. “Hopefully he can just keep producing like this because he’s playing great on both ends of the floor.”
Williams had 21 points and six assists for the Jazz, who blew open the game by making 10 of their first 11 shots in the fourth quarter.
The Jazz dominated inside, outscoring the Bulls 62-42 and finished 45-for-74 from the floor. Utah had a better shooting percentage from the field than at the foul line, where the Jazz went 13-for-23.
Boozer made his first seven shots and didn’t miss until the second half. He only missed once more and was hitting from the outside as well as driving for layups and dunks.
Boozer had one of his best games of the season against a team he said over the summer he wouldn’t mind playing for during an interview with a Chicago radio station. But the trade Boozer talked about on the air never materialized and Boozer was playing against the Bulls instead of for them.
He seemed to be enjoying it.
“I’m in a great groove, having a good time out there,” Boozer said. “We have fun out there. If we play like that we can compete with anybody.”
The Jazz had been booed loudly just two nights before in a loss at home to Oklahoma City, but on Thursday there was nothing but cheering.
“It was kind of a totally different team,” coach Jerry Sloan said. “We were a lot more alive and a lot more aggressive than we were the other night.”
Luol Deng had 26 points and eight rebounds for Chicago, and Derrick Rose had 19 points. James Johnson was the only Chicago player other than Rose and Deng to score in double figures, finishing with 10.
The Bulls lost their fourth straight and fell to 1-4 on a six-game trip, which ends Monday night in Milwaukee.
“We didn’t shoot the basketball well, especially in the second half,” Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said. “We could never really put up a fight to get back in it and put some pressure on them.”
Not with the way the Jazz were shooting. Utah hadn’t shot above 60 percent since March 2008.
Mehmet Okur scored 14 points, Ronnie Brewer had 15 points and six assists, and Paul Millsap finished with 12 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz.
Utah had much more energy than in Tuesday’s loss to the Thunder, which forced the Jazz into 24 turnovers. Utah cut that total to 14 against the Bulls.
“We just looked like a completely different team tonight,” Williams said. “I guess that last one stung us a little bit.”
Utah led 81-65 at the end of the third and opened the fourth on a 10-3 run, taking an 87-68 lead on an alley-oop from Williams to Brewer with 10:43 left to play. Chicago called time out, but couldn’t score and Williams followed with a jumper from the top of the key and Andrei Kirilenko drove the baseline for a dunk that put the Jazz up 91-68
The Jazz made 10 of their first 11 shots in the period and continued to play pesky defense the rest of the way.
Boozer was 7 for 7 in the first half for 16 points, and with six rebounds and five assists, including a pass to Brewer for a power dunk with 3.6 seconds left that gave the Jazz a 57-40 halftime lead.
Magic 93, Hawks 76: Dwight Howard had 22 points and 17 rebounds, Vince Carter added 21 points as Orlando beat Atlanta on Thursday night.
The Hawks, attempting to tie Phoenix for the NBA’s best record, dropped to 11-4. They missed a chance to improve to 8-0 at home for the first time since 1993-94.
Orlando wiped away the disappointment of a one-point home loss to Miami on Wednesday night with its sixth win in seven games.
Joe Johnson had 22 points for the Hawks, a half-game behind Orlando for the Eastern Conference and Southeast Division lead.
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