Jazz rebound over Grizzlies


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SALT LAKE CITY -- Carlos Boozer had 28 points and 15 rebounds to power the Utah Jazz past the Memphis Grizzlies 118-108 Saturday night.

Reserve Matt Harpring had 24 points, and Deron Williams added 21 points and 13 assists to lead the Jazz to their fifth straight home win and 11th of their last 12 overall.

Andrei Kirilenko had 12 points and four blocks, and Paul Millsap added 11 points and 14 rebounds, helping the Jazz inch closer to clinching their first playoff berth since the 2002-03 season.

Dahntay Jones had a career-high 26 points, and Pau Gasol had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who began a six-game road trip.

Rookie Tarence Kinsey scored a career-high 20 points for the Grizzlies, who have an NBA-worst 5-29 road record.

One of those five wins came against the Jazz, whom they defeated 132-130 in overtime on Jan. 24 on Eddie Jones' buzzer beater. One night after suffering their biggest loss of the season, 104-72 against the Clippers, the Jazz looked determined to be the ones doing the beating.

The Jazz had 19 assists on their first 21 field goals as they shredded Memphis' man and zone defenses for layups and dunks. Boozer had 14 points and 10 rebounds at halftime to boost Utah to a 67-45 lead.

After scoring four points for the Grizzlies in the first half, Mike Miller sat out the second half with patella tendinitis. Jones took advantage of his extended minutes to better his career scoring high of 23 points against Philadelphia on Feb. 9, 2005. Kinsey's previous high was 13 against New Jersey last week.

Memphis trimmed Utah's lead to 13 when Jones made a steal and a dunk in the third quarter. He got a technical for hanging on the rim. Harpring hit the free throw, which started a string of seven straight points for Utah. The Jazz led by at least 16 points until the Grizzlies scored the last eight points of the game.

Boozer made 13-of-17 shots in posting his 42nd double-double. The Jazz power forward averaged more than 28 points and 14 rebounds this season against Memphis, which has the worst field-goal percentage defense in the NBA.

When the Jazz made the playoffs in 2002-03, their 20th consecutive trip, perennial All-Stars John Stockton and Karl Malone were wearing Utah uniforms. The Jazz lost in the first round that season to Sacramento and then narrowly missed the postseason in two of the next three campaigns.

Game notes Williams and Utah coach Jerry Sloan both got technical fouls in the first quarter, when the Grizzlies shot 20 free throws. ... The Jazz won the season series (3-1) against the Grizzlies for the first time in three seasons. ... Derek Fisher had seven assists to surpass 2,500 for his career. ... Gasol made 9-of-10 field goals, but just 7-of-12 free throws.

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