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Fueled by its trio - Mehmet Okur, Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams – the Utah Jazz won 110-101 over the Miami Heat. The three Jazz players combined for 73 points on Monday night to get the win.
Turkey’s Mehmet Okur was the guy with the hot hand and led the Jazz in scoring with 25 points. Boozer had 24 points and 15 rebounds and Orlando’s crafty guard D. Williams also had 24 points and 15 assists to go with that.
"I felt great. My team does such a good job creating open shots for me. We really executed,'' said Okur, who was on fire with his middle-range shots. Trailing 89-87, Okur drilled his fourth three-pointer of the game to cap a decisive 16-5 surge, putting the hosts ahead, 103-94 with 1:19 remaining.
Utah (13-5) recorded their third straight victory to mark the day when Coach Jerry Sloan received a one-year contract that will take him through next season, his 21st with the team.
The other Jazz players also helped and Ronnie Brewer added 17 points and Andrei Kirilenko chipped in with 10 points and also had nine assists for Utah, which has won six of seven to improve to 13-5 this season. The Jazz are the league leaders in assists at 26.6 per game.
The Miami Heat continues to struggle despite the come back of Dwyane Wade after several month of recovery from surgery. “The Flash” had 26 points and 10 assists, while Shaquille O'Neal had 12 points.
"This team brings out the best in you,'' Wade said about the Jazz.
"I thought we played a great game but they just made more plays when it counted to win the ballgame,'' he added.
Ricky Davis and Jason Williams each chipped in with 15 points, and veteran center Alonzo Mourning had 13 points for Miami, which has lost three in a row and eight of 11 to fall to 4-13 this year.
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