Boozer back as Jazz rout Hawks

[February 24, 2009]  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Deron Williams had 15 points and 10 assists and Utah welcomed back Carlos Boozer from a three-month absence with a 108-89 rout of the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.

The Jazz won their fifth straight and got to use Boozer sparingly in his first game since Nov. 19, when he injured a tendon in his left quadriceps. The two-time All-Star also had knee surgery to remove cartilage in January and returned after missing 44 straight games. He finished with two points and five rebounds as the rest of the Jazz handled the scoring.

Joe Johnson had 15 points to lead the Hawks, who lost their 15th straight game at Utah.

Kyle Korver snapped out of a shooting slump, going 6-for-9 and scoring 16 for the Jazz. Matt Harpring scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, when he also had to be restrained by his teammates after he was knocked down on a flagrant foul by Josh Smith.

Al Horford had 14 points and six rebounds for the Hawks, and Smith scored 11 before he was ejected for the hard foul on Harpring with 8:40 left to play. Harpring was still upset from taking an elbow to the face earlier in the period from Johnson and charged Smith as soon as he got back on his feet.

Harpring had to be held back until Smith finally made his way to the locker room. With the Jazz already leading 99-77, the play was the highlight of the fourth quarter.

Harpring made his free throws, then added a few more points before getting a warm ovation when he was pulled in the final minutes.

Atlanta fell to 1-3 on a five-game Western Conference trip, which wraps up Wednesday in Denver.

The Hawks were outrebounded 42-31 -- including 14 offensive boards by the Jazz -- and had 20 turnovers.

Atlanta shot 50 percent, but couldn't catch up to the Jazz after a torrid second quarter.

Korver hit two 3-pointers, Harpring had a pair of layups and Kirilenko converted a three-point play as the Jazz opened the second on a 17-5 run.

The Hawks cut it to 61-52 on a dunk by Maurice Evans, but the Jazz answered with another rally starting when Boozer got his first field goal on a goaltending call with 9 seconds left. After Johnson missed a shot for Atlanta, Brewer had time to get off one final shot and made it from just inside half court to put the Jazz up 66-52 at halftime.

Utah shot 70.7 percent (29-of-41) in the half. Korver was 5-for-5 and Williams went 6-for-8 in the half with eight assists.

Flip Murray scored 13 and Evans had 12 points for the Hawks.

Notes: Korver had been 5-for-25 from the floor since the All-Star break. ... The Hawks haven't won in Utah since Feb. 13, 1993. ... Williams had his sixth straight double-double. ... Smith was 0-for-6 from the foul line. ... The Jazz made six of 13 3-pointers.

[Associated Press; By DOUG ALDEN]

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