Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - Carlos Boozer dominated the paint to the tune of 33 points and 16 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz continued their red- hot play with a 102-93 win over the road-weary Charlotte Bobcats.
Boozer’s Big Night Propels Jazz To 102-93 Win Over Bobcats
Boozer went 13-of-16 from the field and had seven offensive rebounds, as the Jazz improved to 18-3 since January 9, the best record in the NBA in that span. Deron Williams, returning from a quad injury that forced him out of Tuesday's home loss to Atlanta, poured in 20 points and dished out 12 assists, while Kyle Korver went 5-of-6 from three-point range for 18 points in the win.
Gerald Wallace scored 27 points and grabbed eight boards for the Bobcats, who fell to 0-3 on a four-game road trip and 7-22 overall in games away from Charlotte. Tyrus Thomas, who has emerged since being acquired from Chicago, finished one point off his season-high with 20, while Stephen Jackson provided 16 points in defeat.
The Jazz trailed by 11 at halftime but came out firing in the third quarter to surge in front.
Utah scored 10 straight points in the opening minutes of the second half -- six from Boozer, whose layup with eight minutes left had the hosts within 55-52.
Charlotte pushed its lead back up to 60-53 on a Boris Diaw three, but the Jazz answered with an 11-0 burst; Boozer had seven of the points, including a three-point play with three minutes left that gave Utah a 64-60 advantage.
The Jazz, who outscored the Bobcats 31-16 in the third, held a 73-69 edge heading into the fourth.
A pair of Stephen Graham free throws for Charlotte tied the game at 77-77 with nine minutes to play, but a Paul Millsap tip shot and Korver three quickly put the Jazz back ahead by five. Another pair of Korver threes sandwiched around a Thomas jumper had Utah ahead, 90-81, with 5:16 left, and the Bobcats never got closer than nine down the stretch.
Wallace tallied 11 points in the first quarter for Charlotte, which led by a 31-28 margin after 12 minutes of play.
Wallace scored the first five points of the second quarter to increase the Bobcats’ lead to eight, and the visitors led for the remainder of the period and held a 53-42 advantage at halftime.
Utah's Andrei Kirilenko continued to sit out with a back injury...The Jazz are 23-8 at home this season...The home team has won eight straight in the series between the two clubs...Bobcats head coach Larry Brown was ejected from the game after receiving two technical fouls with 3:44 to play...Boozer scored 14 points in the third quarter and 11 in the first...Korver had 13 points in the fourth quarter...Diaw had 10 points.
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