SLIDESHOW: Utah Jazz vs Washington Wizards
SALT LAKE CITY -- Dropping two in a row? Frustrating.
Playing on back-to-back nights? Tiresome.
Facing the lowly Washington Wizards? Comforting.
So it was the for Utah Jazz on Monday as they returned to EnergySolutions Arena after a long four-game road trip. Perhaps a bit tired early on, Utah settled in during the second quarter and cruised to an easy 112-89 victory over the Wizards, who lost their eighth consecutive game.
"It's nice to get one that's a little bit easier," Jazzman Kyle Korver said. "It was a good win; it was good for everyone to play."
The Jazz (43-24) bounced back from consecutive losses to Milwaukee and Oklahoma City. But they still must play three more games this week as they work through perhaps their toughest stretch of the season.
They will play seven games over the next 12 nights.
"Have you seen the rest of the schedule," said Deron Williams as he joked with a group of reporters near his locker. "It makes me sad."
The truth of it was, the Jazz were anything but sad following Monday's win.
Williams notched his 35th double-double of the season, scoring 17 points and dishing out 11 assists. Meanwhile. Carlos Boozer added 23 points and nine rebounds.
Playing added minutes thanks to the blowout, Utah's bench players combined for 42 points. Rookie Sundiata Gaines -- playing in place of injured point guard Ronnie Price -- scored a career-high 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Korver added 11 and Paul Millsap had 10.
"Nobody hung their heads (after dropping two in a row)," Boozer said. "We came back tonight after a back-to-back and put together a great effort. It was a team effort, everybody came out focused. Even though we played last night we came back tonight (and played with) more energy that we had last night."
After battling to a 25-all tie at the end of the first quarter, the Jazz pulled away in the second, outscoring the Wizards 34-20 in the period.
Utah hit better than 70 percent from the field during that span and held Washington to just 32 percent.
"I always think you shoot the ball better on the second night than the first night," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "But (the Wizards have) had a lot of tough things to overcome. They're trying to put their team back together."
The Jazz continued their dominance in the third quarter as well. They outscored the Wizards 31-15 while holding them to a lifeless 3-for-22 shooting.
Although they were confident in their chances against the struggling Wizards (21-44), the Jazz seemed to have a healthy respect from them.
"They've been playing well," Boozer said. "They've got some guys that have been playing great after the (All-Star) break."
Washington got 24 points from promising young forward Andray Blatche and 14 from veteran guard Mike Miller.
Rookie Alonzo Gee added 10 points off the bench.
"It's a different team, a different look for them," said Williams. "They're not as good (after) losing three All-Stars (Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler)."
Jamison and Butler have been traded. Arenas has been suspended indefinitely by the NBA.
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