Jazz 100, Bucks 86
SALT LAKE CITY -- Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap each scored 19 points and Enes Kanter contributed 17 points and a career-high five blocks off the bench to lead the Utah Jazz to a 100-86 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night at EnergySolutions Arena.
Jefferson and Derrick Favors each pulled down 11 rebounds and Kanter grabbed nine boards as the Jazz used their size advantage to beat the Bucks in Utah for the 11th straight time.
Randy Foye chipped in 12 points and DeMarre Carroll added 11 as Utah improved to 28-22. The Jazz are 19-5 at home this season, including 11 victories in their last 12 appearances.
Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova each scored 17 points for the Bucks, but they couldn't hold to an early 12-point lead and ran out of gas after playing two games in two nights. Milwaukee fell to 25-24 overall and 12-14 on the road.
Samuel Dalembert had 10 points and 11 rebounds, but it was a quiet night for the Bucks' big man compared to his career-high 35-point, 12-rebound outing in Denver the previous night.
Despite playing in the Mile High City on Tuesday and not arriving in Utah until early Wednesday morning, the Bucks came out strong. Jennings had 10 quick points and his 3-pointer 10 minutes into the game put Milwaukee ahead 25-13.
The Jazz chipped away at the visitors' lead by scoring the final six points of the first quarter and beginning the second period with an Alec Burks 3-pointer to cap a 9-0 run.
Kanter then went to work off the bench, scoring eight points in a row for the Jazz to help Utah turn things around.
Millsap ended Kanter's streak with a go-ahead-for-good basket at the 7:22 mark of the second quarter.
The Bucks made a 6-0 run just before halftime, but Jefferson quickly put back a missed off-balance 3-pointer by Carroll to give Utah a 49-43 advantage with 0.1 seconds left.
Milwaukee pulled within seven points on Ilyasova's 3-pointer early in the third quarter, but the Jazz controlled the game from that point.
Utah outrebounded the Bucks 50-37 and won the points-in-the-paint battle 56-36. The Jazz also had 31 second-chance points to just 10 for Milwaukee.
NOTES: Hall of Fame power forward Karl Malone offered up his coaching services to the Jazz during a radio interview with Salt Lake City-based ESPN 700. "All they've got to do is call me. I'll work with the big men for free for a while," the former Jazz great said. "I'm saying it again (but) ain't nobody took me up on it. Maybe they don't want to hear me." Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin's response: "Who knows? Who knows?" ... Malone's son, Karl Malone Jr., signed his National Letter of Intent to play football for LSU on Wednesday morning. ... It took a week and a half, but Jazz sixth man Gordon Hayward's shoulder has improved to the point that he's able to do some work on the court. "I'm shooting now," he said, grinning, "so it's better." He has missed six games with his injury. ... According to Elias Sports Bureau, Dalembert became the first NBA player to total as many as 35 points and 12 rebounds in as little as 27 minutes when he hit those figures during the Bucks' loss at Denver on Tuesday.
