Associated Press
CHARLOTTE ó Deron Williams had 23 points and 10 assists, Carlos Boozer added 22 points and 11 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz bounced back from a miserable performance a night earlier to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 110-102 on Saturday.
Boozer and Williams combined for eight points and as many turnovers on 3-of-15 shooting before being benched in the third quarter with the rest of Utah’s starters in a blowout loss at Atlanta. It prompted Williams to apologize to Utah fans.
Williams came back energized, constantly beating Charlotte in transition, while Boozer dominated the inside as the Bobcats faded early in the fourth quarter.
Gerald Wallace had 30 points and 13 rebounds, and Stephen Jackson added 18 points for the Bobcats, who have dropped two straight.
The matchup of veteran coaches with a combined 2,437 professional wins seemed to tilt in Larry Brown’s favor coming in. The Bobcats were 9-3 at home and off since Wednesday’s loss in Indiana.
But Jerry Sloan’s bunch was angry ó and the Jazz weren’t nearly as tired as expected after Sloan’s mass benching. Sloan didn’t even bother looking at the tape of Friday’s debacle against the Hawks, where the Jazz trailed by as many as 32 points.
“If you think backwards, you’re probably going to play backwards,” Sloan said.
Utah shot well early, building a 50-41 lead late in the second quarter. It was a familiar early deficit for the Bobcats, who rallied to beat New York on Tuesday.