Williams, Korver Help Jazz To 10th Straight Victory
POSTED: 12:42 am MST February 7,
2008
Denver, CO -- (Sports Network) - Deron Williams had 29 points and 11 assists and Kyle Korver went for 27 points as Utah overcame a second-half Denver surge for its 10th straight win, 118-115, in overtime at Pepsi Center.Williams hit 11-of-19 field-goal attempts and also grabbed six boards, while Mehmet Okur added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Korver helped seal the game down the stretch at the foul line. This is Utah's longest winning streak since capturing 11 in a row during the 1998-99 season.
Allen Iverson dropped 34 points and handed out 10 assists for Denver, which had chances to win the game at the end of regulation and in overtime. Carmelo Anthony had 29 points and eight rebounds before fouling out midway through the extra session. Iverson was fouled by Korver while shooting a three with 2:27 to go in OT, and hit two of the ensuing three free throws for a 113-110 Nuggets lead. But Matt Harpring hit a jumper at the other end to make it a one-point game, and a little more than a minute later, Iverson's miss led to a Harpring-to-Korver fast break and a 114-113 Jazz lead with under a minute to go. Iverson again exploited the slower Korver on the next possession, drawing another foul and hitting two more from the stripe to reclaim the lead for Denver with 38 seconds on the clock. But Korver returned the favor, getting Iverson to bite on a pump fake and then hitting two free throws for a 116-115 Utah edge with 19.3 ticks remaining. Guarded by Williams, Iverson used a step-back move to free himself for the potential go-ahead look, but his shot rimmed out and Carlos Boozer corralled the rebound for the Jazz. Korver hit two more at the line for the three-point cushion with 3.2 seconds on the clock, and Anthony Carter's desperation heave went begging, securing the double-digit win streak for Utah. Harpring finished with 13 points and Boozer had eight points and 11 boards for Utah, which hasn't lost since falling to the Nuggets in the same building, 120-109, on January 17. Kenyon Martin had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Denver, which had its own three-game win streak halted. Carter added 12 points and six assists, and Marcus Camby pulled down a game-high 17 boards to go with his 11 points. Williams' three-point play put Utah back up one, 99-98, with 3:18 remaining in regulation, but Iverson answered with a jumper. Anthony then converted a spinning fallaway along the baseline to push the Nuggets lead to 102-99 with just over two minutes on the clock. Harpring hit two free throws to bring the Jazz back within one, and Anthony's pair from the line made it 104-101 with 1:38 to go. But Boozer sliced inside for a lay-in, trimming the lead back to one, and though Carter hit two free throws to put Denver back up three, the Nuggets committed a costly turnover with under a minute to go that gave Utah a chance to pull even. Williams' initial shot rattled out, but Camby couldn't control the rebound and lost the ball out of bounds with 24 ticks on the clock. Williams then came off a high screen by Korver for a wide-open three, which he canned to tie the game with 17.8 seconds to go. Anthony got a clean look as time expired in regulation, but it rimmed out, and the game went to an extra session. Denver led 26-23 after one quarter, but Utah closed the first half on a 17-7 spurt to take a 56-41 lead into the half. The Nuggets clawed their way back within seven, at 75-68, when Eduardo Najera scored on a reverse lay-in with just under three minutes left in the third, and they trailed just 78-72 heading to the fourth. Iverson's triple made it a four-point game just two minutes into the fourth, and Linas Kleiza tied it at 85 less than two minutes later with his own three. Game Notes Utah outrebounded Denver, 54-44, and hit 33-of-44 free throws compared with the Nuggets' 25-for-37 (67.6 percent) effort...Denver was 10-of-20 from three- point range, led by Iverson's 5-for-7 night...Paul Millsap had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who will try and extend their streak to 11 when they visit Sacramento Friday...Utah's single-season longest winning streak is 15, set twice during the 1996-97 campaign.
Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network.







