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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Andrei Kirilenko was determined to stop the Utah Jazz's recent skid. Kirilenko had 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Jazz beat the New Jersey Nets 89-78 on Monday night. Utah had lost four of its last five games. "We stayed with our game. A couple of the previous games we were terrible, but tonight we did a terrific job. We were happy, we were moving and rolling," Kirilenko said. While the Jazz were rolling, the Nets were missing. Richard Jefferson had 32 points but the Nets shot a season-low 33 percent, including 2-for-21 from 3-point range. New Jersey's previous low was 34.7 percent in an 81-69 loss to Memphis on Jan. 13. Kidd posted his league-leading third triple-double with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. It was the 70th of his career. "We struggled with Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson but we found a way to help each other and I think we did a good job tonight," said Mehmet Okur, who scored 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Jazz. Kidd missed 12 of his 15 shots from the field. "It's good (to have a triple-double) but I would rather have the win," Kidd said. Vince Carter, the Nets' leading scorer who was hobbled with back pain, shot 2-of-14 and finished with five points. His only field goals were the initial baskets of the first and third quarters. "I took a charge early in the game and I was never the same," Carter said. The Nets used an 8-0 run to close to 63-56 early in the fourth quarter, but Kirilenko made a jumper and Okur made two crucial baskets with the shot clock running down in an 11-2 run that put the game away. The Jazz led by double-digits the rest of the way. "Every time you should keep in your mind, they can run back, they can come back and that's what they did. I like that we didn't let up, we stayed with our game and won," Kirilenko said. In addition to guarding Carter, Gordan Giricek scored 14 points and Devin Brown had 13 as the Jazz won for the second time since taking over first place in the Northwest Division six games ago. "I think Giricek and Devin Brown did a terrific job tonight. I think we helped each other very well," Kirilenko said. The Nets shot 29 percent in the first half and fell behind by as many as 16 before closing to 40-28 at halftime. Beside Jefferson's 5-of-8 shooting, New Jersey made 6-of-29 shots and produced its fewest points in a half this season. "We just couldn't hit a shot. It was one of those nights," Jefferson said. Notes:@ Clifford Robinson, who has played more seasons than any other active player, moved into 11th place on the all-time list of games played with 1,287. He also passed Patrick Ewing to become 17th on the all-time minutes played with 40,598. Twin brothers Jarron and Jason Collins jumped center on the opening tipoff. Jarron scored his 1,500 point in the first half.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-01-23-06 2249MST
