MILWAUKEE, March 12 (AP) -- Carlos Boozer had a go-ahead layup with 46.7 seconds and the Utah Jazz narrowly avoided another surprising road loss, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 114-110 Wednesday night.
Deron Williams led Utah with 26 points and 13 assists, his ninth straight double-double and 41st overall. Ronnie Brewer scored 21 and Boozer added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who bounced back from their 12-point loss at Chicago the previous night.
Charlie Villanueva and Michael Redd scored 26 points each to lead the Bucks, who nearly pulled out a victory thanks to Charlie Bell's strong outside shooting in the fourth quarter. Bell scored 24 and tied a season high with five 3-pointers, including two in a 12-0 run midway through the fourth quarter that allowed Milwaukee to take a 99-89 lead.
Utah went 7 minutes without a field goal down the stretch, but used good free-throw shooting to stay in the game.
The Jazz then went on a 12-2 run of their own and later took the lead on Boozer's layup that gave them Jazz a 109-108 lead in the final minute.
After a Milwaukee timeout, Redd missed a layup and Brewer was fouled with 25.8 seconds left. Brewer missed the first and made the second, giving the Bucks one last chance to tie or take the lead.
The Bucks dropped their first game in a stretch that will see them play four in a row at the Bradley Center – their longest home stand of the season. The Bucks fell to 17-15 on their home court.
Utah outscored Milwaukee 22-7 to come from behind in the game’s closing minutes.
Charlie Bell sunk a game-high 5 three-pointers to barrel past Craig Hodges (260) for 7th place in team history. Bell has now hit 261 three-point shots in a Bucks jersey.
Three Bucks tallied 20 or more points for the second straight night. Michael Redd (26), Charlie Villanueva (26) and Charlie Bell (24) hit that mark tonight. Villaneuva (24), Redd (26) and Andrew Bogut (23) reached the feat in last night’s loss at Washington.
The Jazz matched the Bucks with three 20-pointers of their own: Deron Williams (26), Ronnie Brewer (21, a career high) and Carlos Boozer (20).
Double dips: Deron Williams had his 41st double-double in 65 games by the end of the first half tonight. He added 13 assists to his 26-point performance. Teammate Carlos Boozer added is 42nd double-double in 64 games, with 20 points and 11 boards. Mehmet Okur’s 10-rebound, 19-point performance rounds out the team’s double-doubles.
Andrew Bogut extended a career-high with his team-leading 30th double-double. No. 6 finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
The 1st quarter was a big one all around for Utah. The Jazz sunk 19 of 25 shots (76%), dished out 14 assists and were a perfect 2 of 2 from the charity stripe. The Jazz turned the ball over only once in the period and limited the Bucks to two free-throw attempts (1-2, 50%).
First half streaks: The Jazz scored the first six points tonight. The following quarter, the Bucks scored the first 7 points to cut a 14-point Jazz lead in half. The Bucks ultimately outscored the Jazz 36-23 in the 2nd quarter, their best of the night.
With 26 points, Charlie Villanueva had his fourth 20-point effort in five games. It is his 11th double-digit game in the 15 he has started since Feb. 5 versus Memphis.
Sending the Jazz to the line tonight was a bad move. Utah sunk its first 11 free-throw attempts on its way to 27 of 30 shooting (90%).
Utah’s 40 points in the 1st quarter tonight is a season high to open the game for a Bucks opponent. The biggest quarterly total for a Bucks opponent this season remains 41 (3rd quarter – vs. Golden State, 1/19/2008).
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Game highlights
Larry Krystkowiak
(On tonight’s game…)
“I think we had an opportunity. We put some guys in positions to make some plays. We didn’t make baskets when we needed to. It got physical toward the end. It comes down to some free throws and a little bit better execution. We missed ten free throws and I think that hurts. The first quarter hurt us. We came out real sluggish to start the game and then we played 36 minutes of pretty good basketball once we woke up at the end of the first quarter. We had an energy group of guys that came in and really gave us a lift. I think (Michael) Ruffin and Charlie Bell and (Royal) Ivey and Danny (Gadzuric) and a bunch of those guys really brought a little defense to the table.”
(On Charlie Bell’s performance…)
“It was tremendous. It was a huge lift and good to see him doing that on both ends of the floor. He defended real well in the pick-and-roll and obviously hit some big shots for us. It was nice on his birthday. I wish we could have gotten him the W.”
(On having multiple options at the end of the game...)
“That was one of the points that we talked about, and we ran a couple of those plays at shoot-around where some of the other options were going to be available. We try to put people in position where it’s not a first or second option situation but actually everybody on the floor is an option based on how they play us.”
Charlie Villanueva
(On tonight’s game…)
“The guys played well. The bench played well and contributed. We played with a lot of energy. We were down in the first quarter and we came back. We were up 11 at one point in the game. Then we got in the penalty too early and they made their free throws. That’s how they got back into the game.”
(On trying to stop Deron Williams…)
“He’s hard to guard. He’s so quick with the ball. He’s going to be one of the best point guards in this league for a long time.”
Michael Ruffin
(On tonight’s game…)
“We just kind of got off to a slow start. We knew the biggest problem we were having was just a lack of energy. They were out there getting out on the fast break against us, so our unit came into the game. We had to find some way to get back into it, and we were just being active. Danny (Gadzuric) did a great job out there, and Charlie Bell, they were playing as hard as they can and that’s all you have to do. That’s the only way you give yourself a chance to win is to play hard.”
(On playing aggressive…)
“That’s what I enjoy doing. I like hitting somebody and just playing physical and working as hard as I can out there on the court. That’s what we need to do to win. We were able to do that but we also need to be smart down the stretch. We just made a few too many mistakes and missed a few too many free throws and there were a couple of plays down the stretch that hurt us.”
Full AP recap
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Bucks injury report
Locker room: Charlie Villanueva & Michael Ruffin
Game highlights
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