SALT LAKE CITY — Deron Williams had 20 points and 13 assists as the Utah Jazz honored the memory of Larry H. Miller with a 102-88 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Saturday.
The Jazz held a pregame moment of silence and the players wore patches with the initials LHM as Miller’s courtside seat remained empty during a game he would have especially enjoyed.
The Jazz improved to 10 games above .500 for the first time this season and after the buzzer, Williams walked the game ball across the court to hand it to Miller’s widow, Gail, and hugged her. Miller, 64, died Friday of complications from diabetes.
Chris Paul had 24 points and seven assists for New Orleans, which was coming off an overtime loss in Los Angeles the night before.
Emotions alone weren’t enough to carry Utah. After allowing an 11-point run in the third quarter that got New Orleans within two, the Jazz regrouped and took an 84-76 lead into the fourth quarter. Both teams sputtered through the first few minutes, but Williams revived his teammates and the fans with a 20-foot jumper, followed by a 3-pointer to put Utah ahead 91-80 with 6:48 remaining.
Mehmet Okur followed with a layup, then after Williams drew an offensive foul on Paul, Okur hit a 3-pointer that put the Jazz up 96-81 and all but clinched it.
The Hornets went without a field goal from 10:53 in the fourth until Rasual Butler’s three-point play with 3:36 remaining.
Okur finished with 25 points to lead the Jazz and Paul Millsap had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Butler had 21, and David West had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who are 0-2 against the Jazz this season.
The Hornets were coming off a 115-111 overtime loss at the Lakers on Friday night.
The Jazz won their fourth straight and there was no doubt this one was for Miller, the man who saved the franchise from leaving his hometown twice in the 1980s, then built Utah into a contender.
The Jazz were 13-for-19 (68.4 percent) in the second quarter and 25-for-42 in the first half, forcing the Hornets into nine turnovers and leading by as much as 15 points.
New Orleans cut the lead to 73-71 with an 11-0 run, in the third quarter, but the rest of the period and all of the fourth belonged to the Jazz.
Notes: The Jazz won the season series with the Hornets for the
fourth straight year. … Butler and Harpring were separated and called for a technical each with 4:37 left in the second quarter. … New Orleans’ Sean Marks turned the ball over when he stepped over the baseline before inbounding the ball after a turnover by the Jazz late in the third quarter. … New Orleans was also coming off a game in Los Angeles the first time the Hornets visited Utah this season, a 116-90 win for the Jazz on Jan. 7.
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