Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) – Amare Stoudemire scored 20 points and had seven rebounds, and Phoenix elevated to the third seed in the Western Conference with a 100-86 victory over the Utah Jazz in the regular season finale.
Suns Win 100-86, Secure The Third Seed, Jazz Settle For The Fifth Seed
The Suns (54-28) won 14 of their final 16 games and will battle Portland in the first round of the playoffs.
The Jazz, who had their 10-game home winning streak broken, were denied winning the Northwest Division title. That went to Denver, which gained the fourth seed and a first-round playoff date against Utah.
Deron Williams had 24 points and Mehmet Okur chipped in 21 points and 11 rebounds for Utah (53-29), which won its previous two games. This was the first home loss for the Jazz since February 22 against Atlanta.
The Jazz have injury concerns for their frontcourt going into the playoffs. Carlos Boozer sat out Wednesday with a strained rib muscle. Also, Andrei Kirilenko missed 15 of the last 17 games this season due to a strained left calf.
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