SALT LAKE CITY -- By sharing the ball on one end of the floor and stopping it on the other, the Jazz on Saturday bounced back with their 10th win of the season.
Shaking off Thursday's distasteful loss to the Dallas Mavericks, Utah rebounded with a 108-98 victory over Minnesota at EnergySolutions Arena.
"When we're sharing the ball and moving our bodies as we were tonight, we're a pretty effective team," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said.
Utah (10-5) was dogged by the Timberwolves (7-9) throughout most of the night, but the Jazz finally pulled away with a 24-17 run in the fourth quarter.
The Jazz, winners of nine of their last 11 games, put an end to Minnesota's three-game winning streak.
Paul Millsap scored 26 points and added nine rebounds to pace the Jazz and teammate Al Jefferson notched a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
C.J. Miles led Utah's bench with 18 points and gritty point guard Earl Watson poured in 10 points to go along with seven assists.
Millsap has reached double figures in scoring in seven consecutive games. He has also added nine or more rebounds in five of those contests.
The veteran power forward scored 16 of his 26 points after halftime and 12 in the fourth quarter as the Jazz put the game on ice.
"I know we really appreciate all his efforts," Corbin said of Millsap. "He's continued to work to get better and as a result, we're better because he's so effective on the floor."
Saturday's game was played all out by two teams laboring in the NBA's Northwest Division, arguably the NBA's toughest division. The Jazz, Nuggets and Thunder all have double-digit wins, while Portland and Minnesota have nine and seven, respectively.
The T-Wolves came into the game on the heels of a last-second victory over the Clippers Friday night in Los Angeles. They looked sharp against the Jazz, too, as young point guard Ricky Rubio pushed the pace of play at every opportunity.
The Spaniard finished the game with 17 points and 11 assists, while rookie Derrick Williams recorded 15 points off the bench.
All five of Minnesota's starters reached double figures.
Holding tightly to an 89-87 lead early in the fourth, the Jazz got a boost from Millsap who scored on four of the next five possessions. Watson added a three-point play and the Jazz began to pull away.
In all, Utah recorded 25 assists on 41 made field goals, a clear sign its offense was moving sharply.
"That's huge for us," Corbin said. "We shared the ball."
And the Jazz also stopped the T-Wolves when they absolutely needed to.
Leading 83-81 going into the final quarter, they toughened up their defense and held Minnesota to just 33 percent shooting from the field. What's more, the Jazz outrebounded the T-Wolves 14-8.
The breakneck pace of the game was established in the first half and both teams contributed to it.
The T-Wolves won the first quarter, 26-22, thanks in part to 59 percent shooting from the field. But Jazz weren't too far behind, shooting 53 percent.
Rubio showed off his quickness right from the start and finished the first quarter with three assists. He added four more assists in the second quarter and went into halftime with nine points and seven assists.
After stealing a cross-court pass, he made an eye-popping no-look pass to teammate Wayne Ellington, who followed with a forceful dunk to give Minnesota a 50-47 lead with 1:18 left in the first half.
The Jazz battled back, however, and went into the break leading 54-52.
Miles came off the bench to score 11 first-half points for the Jazz. Millsap added 10.
Ellington's 11 bench points led Minnesota. Wesley Johnson had 10.
The Jazz outscored the T-Wolves 32-26 in the second quarter.
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