Jazz Defeats Spurs on a Buzzer-Beater

When Mehmet Okur’s putback rolled in at the buzzer, the Utah Jazz players celebrated as if they had just won a playoff series.

It was only a regular-season game against visiting San Antonio, but it felt like much more to the Jazz, who had lost nine in a row and hadn’t beaten the Spurs in nearly five years.

“Tonight they deserve a reward because they stayed with it for the full 48 minutes,” Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan said.

Utah hadn’t won since beating Philadelphia, 103-101, on Dec. 20. The nine-game losing streak was the team’s longest since 1983 and ended against the Spurs, of all teams. The Jazz had lost 18 in a row to San Antonio, dating to a win in Utah on Feb. 6, 2000.

Okur finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds and battled San Antonio’s Tim Duncan much of the night. Duncan finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, but Okur got free at the end and made the shot of the night.

Okur pulled down the ball after Keith McLeod missed a layup and banked it in as time expired.

“I was just trying to get to the basket,” said McLeod, who scored 18. “After I missed the shot, I’m still looking and I see Memo come out of nowhere and put it back in.”

The shot was reviewed and upheld,

“I made the last shot, and we had a nine-game losing streak. It was huge for us,” Okur said.

San Antonio never led by more than three and couldn’t hang on to several one-point leads down the stretch. San Antonio hurt itself from the free-throw line, making only 24 of 33.

“I thought they played well the entire game,” Duncan said. “We fought back into it, gave ourselves an opportunity, but they never let up.”

Portland 109, Philadelphia 100 -- Nick Van Exel made a team-record eight three-pointers and scored a season-high 28 points at Philadelphia to help the Trail Blazers end a four-game losing streak and win for only the second time in their last eight games.

Portland made a season-high 14 three-pointers in 26 attempts, with Damon Stoudamire making five. Sebastian Telfair sank the other. Van Exel scored 15 points on five three-pointers during the third quarter, when Portland took a 26-point lead.

Allen Iverson returned from a sprained right ankle to score 21 points with nine rebounds and nine assists for Philadelphia. Iverson crashed hard while driving early in the fourth and came up rubbing his left thigh. He left and didn’t return. Andre Iguodala led the 76ers with 22 points.

Boston 119, Orlando 101 -- Tony Allen led the Celtics’ backups on a 14-0 run early in the second quarter en route to a victory at Boston.

Allen, a rookie guard, had two field goals and two steals in the surge that increased a 32-28 lead to 46-28. The Celtics led by at least 14 points -- and as many as 27 -- the rest of the way and stopped Orlando’s three-game winning streak.

The Celtics improved to 8-2 in their last 10 home games and were led by Paul Pierce with 18 points. Rookie Jameer Nelson had a career-high 19 points for the Magic, who lost for the sixth consecutive time in Boston.

Chicago 94, Golden State 85 -- Othella Harrington had a season-high 20 points at Chicago to lead the Bulls to their fourth victory in a row.

Chicago also improved to 5-1 in January and has won 10 of its last 13 games. The Bulls broke the game open with a 25-8 run in a third quarter in which they scored a season-high 35 points and held the Warriors to 16.7% shooting.

Speedy Claxton had 24 points for the Warriors, who have lost six in a row since Jason Richardson sprained his left ankle on Dec. 31.