Al Jefferson collected 21 points and 11 rebounds and C.J. Miles scored 20 points off the bench as the slumping Utah Jazz managed to squeeze out a 83-78 home victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday.
Andrei Kirilenko chipped in 13 points and 11 rebounds and Paul Millsap finished with 14 and 12 for the Jazz, who had dropped seven of their previous eight and were playing their third straight game without star point guard Deron Williams due to a hyperextended right wrist.
Earl Watson and Ronnie Price shared point guard duties and combined for seven points on 3-of-11 shooting and eight assists while committing nine fouls.
Utah made its move early, jumping out to an 11-0 lead in the first four minutes. The Bobcats cut it to 13-12 just over three minutes later but never managed to take the lead, tying it at 41-41 late in the first half before allowing the Jazz to bridge the second and third quarters with a 13-0 spurt.
Charlotte knotted it at 62-62 to end the third period, but Utah again owned the beginning of the quarter, starting with a 12-2 run that included seven points from Miles. The Bobcats pulled within 79-78 with under two minutes left but went scoreless down the stretch.
Stephen Jackson scored 24 points and D.J. Augustin added 20 for Charlotte, which fell to 3-2 on its six-game road trip.
Charlotte | Utah | |
Stephen Jackson 24 | Scoring | Al Jefferson 21 |
D.J. Augustin 7 | Assists | Earl Watson 6 |
D.J. Augustin 8 | Rebounds | Paul Millsap 12 |
Stephen Jackson 8 | Free Throws Made | Paul Millsap 4 |
Stephen Jackson 3 | Steals | Andrei Kirilenko 2 |
Gerald Wallace 2 | Blocks | Al Jefferson 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Charlotte | 78 | 35.6 | 6-20 | 20-27 | 12 | 36 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
Utah | 83 | 44.7 | 3-8 | 12-14 | 21 | 49 | 10 | 4 | 19 |