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SALT LAKE CITY -- The Miami Heat took the floor at EnergySolutions Arena down 0-1 on the season to the Jazz and walked away with a vengeful 111-98 win as Utah found itself drowning in uncharacteristic doses of inefficiency Wednesday night.
Deron Williams ended the night with 21 points and 11 assists, but took two quarters to find the rhythm that's made him one of the top point guards in the league. With only four attempts from the field and all of them unsuccessful in the first half, Williams tried to find other ways to stay involved on offense and defense, but said he was unable to shake the hesitation caused by the two fouls he collected in the first quarter.
The fouls took me out of my rhythm a little bit. I didn't get many good looks.
–Deron Williams
"The fouls took me out of my rhythm a little bit. I didn't get many good looks," Williams said. "Second half, I was a little more aggressive."
Williams went the final three quarters without picking up another foul, but Utah's struggles elsewhere on the floor came and went throughout the remainder of the game. Fifteen turnovers were amassed by both teams by the end of the fourth quarter, and the Heat collected nine more points from them than Utah's 17. But the turnovers were hardly the only issue preventing the Jazz from stringing together two consecutive comeback victories over Miami, and while Lebron James' 33 points, nine assists and seven rebounds may have been expected by the Jazz, Zydrunas Ilgauskas' 16 points and 10 rebounds against a traditionally tough interior defense weren't.
"Any time you have someone step up when someone's not shooting well or playing particularly well early, it definitely helps our team," James said. "(Ilgauskas was) very comfortable tonight. He said before the game (that) he loves this building, and he shot the ball extremely well, rebounded extremely well, and we need that."
(Ilgauskas) said before the game (that) he loves this building, and he shot the ball extremely well, rebounded extremely well...
–Lebron James
Ilgauskas and Chris Bosh both began the night on a rocky note, shooting a combined 4-of-13, but Ilgauskas helped the Heat stay in the game when Utah caught fire in the third quarter as he went 5-of-6 from the field and posted 12 points while Bosh remained quiet, adding just two points to his mark.
Ilgauskas' sharp shooting held Utah's well-rounded effort in check and Miami's efficiency at a high level, propelling the Heat to a 34-20 domination of the Jazz in the fourth quarter.
"If you would have told me before the season that we would be a better road team than a home team, I would have laughed," Williams said of Utah's 9-5 home and 7-2 road records. "Hopefully we'll get it going."
E-mail: lfrome@ksl.com
