Jazz 85, Bucks 73
Al Jefferson scored a season-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and the Utah Jazz registered a 85-73 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.
Paul Millsap had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Gordon Hayward scored 12 points as Utah (3-3) won its second consecutive game and beat Milwaukee for the 10th straight time in Salt Lake City.
Drew Gooden had 24 points and 12 rebounds and Stephen Jackson scored 16 for Milwaukee (2-3), which shot just 30.5 percent from the field while playing without center Andrew Bogut and guards Mike Dunlevay and Beno Udrih.
Bogut missed the contest for undisclosed personal reasons and Dunleavy sat out his second straight game due to an illness. Udrih injured a shoulder in Monday’s loss to Denver and didn’t suit up.
The short-handed Bucks were just 2-for-21 from 3-point range. Jackson hit just five of 17 shots and leading scorer Brandon Jennings had just eight points on 4-of-19 shooting.
Utah built a 15-point, second-quarter lead and held a 43-34 halftime advantage. Jefferson had 19 first-half points en route to his third consecutive 20-point outing.
The Jazz’s lead dwindled to three early in the fourth quarter but Utah responded with a 14-4 run and took a 76-63 lead with Millsap’s basket with 3:17 to play.