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By TIM BOOTH Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE (AP) -- Deron Williams continued his streak of outstanding all-around play with 27 points, reserve Matt Harpring added 21, and the Utah Jazz improved to 8-1 with a 118-109 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Friday night.
The 8-1 start for Utah -- best in the NBA -- is the second-best in franchise history, trailing only a 9-1 start to the 1999 season. Utah gets a chance to match that on Saturday night, hosting Phoenix.
It's unclear if Andrei Kirilenko will play in that game. The talented Russian forward stayed in Salt Lake City, missing his second straight game with a sprained right ankle.
Utah didn't need him against the Sonics. Not with Williams scoring at least 20 points for the third time in Utah's last four games and six Jazz players scoring in double figures.
Mehmet Okur scored 15 points with 11 rebounds and Carlos Boozer had 14 and 13. Rookies Ronnie Brewer and Paul Millsap both finished with 11 points.
Williams scored 23 in the second half and combined with Derek Fisher to hand out 14 of Utah's 27 assists. Williams also kept Seattle's Luke Ridnour in check, leaving the Sonics' scoring load to Allen and Rashard Lewis.
Allen finished with 32 -- his fourth game already with 30 or more points -- and Lewis added 24. But a third and fourth scorer failed to emerge for the Sonics (4-6), who have lost two straight at home after a three-game win streak.
Ridnour finished with 15 points, most coming late. Ridnour had scored 19, 32 and 20 points, respectively, in his last three games.
The 118 points were a season high for Utah. Harpring's 3-pointer with 1:45 left put the Jazz up 107-97, just moments after Allen missed a wide-open 3-point attempt. It was just Harpring's third basket of the second half, but sent Seattle fans headed for the exits.
Okur added the final blow, hitting his second 3-pointer in the final five minutes with 50 seconds left, pushing the lead to 13. Utah also dominated the boards, outrebounding Seattle 47-27, including 19-5 on the offensive end.
Reserve Nick Collison added 11 points for Seattle, but the Sonics' reserves were outscored 47-24. Seattle shot 54 percent but gave up 36 points in the fourth quarter.
Seattle twice rallied to take leads in the third quarter, first at 57-56 and again at 68-67. But Utah closed the third on an 11-3 run behind six points from Williams to retake control.
The lead grew to nine early in the fourth, when Harpring ripped the ball from Ridnour's hands and went the length of the floor for a layup. Seattle got no closer than five.
Notes:@ Seattle F Danny Fortson was inactive and may miss the next week after having increased swelling in his left knee. Fortson wasn't expected to travel with the team for Saturday's game at Golden State. ... Utah had 13 offensive rebounds in the first half. Seattle had 14 total.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-11-17-06 2313MST
