SLIDESHOW: Utah Jazz vs Minnesota Timberwolves
SALT LAKE CITY -- Sometime late Monday morning, coach Jerry Sloan emerged from the Jazz's shootaround and jokingly wondered if his guys were "afraid of wolves or something."
Considering how the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves had already taken two of three games from the Jazz this season, his concerns seemed valid at the time.
Of course that was in the morning. By that night they were almost forgotten in the wake of Utah's breathless 122-100 victory at EnergySolutions Arena.
"We got a win, that's all that really matters," said Jazz reserve Kyle Korver, who scored a season-high 20 points on his 29th birthday.
In addition to Korver's scoring, the Jazz (44-24) got 21 points and 11 rebounds off the bench from Paul Millsap.
Carlos Boozer added 19 points and 11 boards, Mehmet Okur scored 14 and Deron Williams -- hobbled with a sprained left ankle -- had nine points and 11 assists.
The win was Utah's second in a row and sixth in eight games.
"We're playing good right now, I can't even deny that," said Boozer. "I know we've played two teams we're supposed to beat (Washington on Monday, Minnesota on Wednesday) but we've lost to teams we're supposed to beat."
Although the T-Wolves (14-55) had success against the Jazz this season, they came into Wednesday's game mired in a 10-game losing streak. A night earlier they suffered a demoralizing 152-114 loss at Phoenix.
For anyone scoring at home, that's 274 points allowed in a 24-hour period.
The win left the Jazz feeling good about themselves, but for a while it wasn't as easy as it looked.
Much like Monday's victory over the troubled Wizards, Wednesday's game was tied at the end of the first period. Thanks to a second-quarter push, Utah pulled away with a good offensive effort and went into halftime leading 52-43.
It was a six-point game midway through the third quarter when Williams provided the play of the game, swooping in from the left side of the court and throwing down a powerful dunk on Minnesota big man Al Jefferson.
The play ignited the crowd -- not to mention the Jazz -- and sparked a 12-4 run. From that point forward, Utah remained in control.
The Jazz outscored the 'Wolves 35-27 in the fourth quarter, doing so while shooting 63 percent from the field.
Millsap scored 12 of his 21 in the fourth while many of Utah's starters played only a few minutes.
That was a necessary move on Sloan's part. After all, his team is in the midst of a difficult stretch of games and getting rest for key players is critical.
Of course Sloan's legendary toughness was lurking just below the surface after the game.
"If I was a starter I wouldn't want to come out of the game no matter what the situation," he said. "But some guys needed some rest and we tried to accommodate them as best we can."
One such player is Williams, who already is battling a sore shoulder and wrist. He added a sprained ankle to the list on Wednesday.
He is expected to undergo an MRI this morning before the team heads to Phoenix to take on the Suns Friday night.
Like Williams, Andrei Kirilenko is also hurting. After missing two games with a strained calf, the Russian returned to the court to face the 'Wolves, but wound up aggravating the injury in the third quarter and did not return.
Also, starting shooting guard Wesley Matthews suffered a sprained MC ligament in his left knee in the second half.
Williams, Kirilenko and Matthews all have been listed as gametime decisions for Friday's game.
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