<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"We weren't ready to handle the backscreens and all the cuts," said Sixers star Allen Iverson, whose 46-point performance was overshadowed by the teamwork 19-17 Utah displayed as it closed a four-game road trip with its third straight victory and won for the eighth time in its last nine outings. "They are a well-coached team, and it shows," added Iverson, who came into the game averaging an NBA second-best 33.3 points. "They execute their plays to the fullest, and get the best shot possible." In this instance, the stats and facts back up Iverson's assertion. The Northwest Division-leading Jazz's 110 points were a season high, topping the 108 they had while beating the 76ers, now 17-18, by six back on New Year's Eve. Season scoring leader Mehmet Okur not only scored a team-high 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, but also dished a career-high eight assists. Andrei Kirilenko's 23 points came on an efficient 7-of-11, and Gordan Giricek added 16 with the same field shooting. Moreover, behind 17 points from Milt Palacio and 14 from Matt Harpring, Utah's bench outscored Philadelphia's 44-6. They did it all with 29 assists, just one shy of their season high. But the biggie is this: The Jazz shot a whopping 74.1 percent from the field in the second half, matching their best half since they made 20-of-27 in the first two quarters of a win over Chicago in their Feb. 5, 1999, opener to the lockout-shortened '98-99 season. That includes decidedly impressive 76.9 percent shooting ? 10-of-13 ? during a decisive fourth quarter in which Utah outscored Philadelphia 35-28. In all, Utah finished a season-high 58.8 percent on 40-of-68 field shooting ? a Philadelphia opponent season-high for the season. "That's not the best defense you can play ? let's put it that way," Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said afterward. "We know how Utah plays," Cheeks added, echoing thoughts from Washington coach Eddie Jordan just a couple nights earlier. "They play cut and screen move. That's what they do. That's how they score." Yet the 76ers couldn't do a dang thing about it over the final 12 minutes. Utah went into the fourth quarter up one at 76-75, but after Okur fed Giricek following a nifty cut down the lane and Palacio hit a couple free throws with seven minutes and seconds to go the Jazz were up 10 at 91-81. Philadelphia did get to within four at 102-98 after Kyle Korver knocked down a trey with 1:27 remaining ? his first 3-pointer of the game, and 27th straight game with at least one made from behind the long-distance line ? but the Jazz sealed their win with 8-of-8 shooting from the free-throw line, including four from Palacio and two apiece from Kirilenko and Okur. Kirilenko added two of his four blocks in the quarter, including a critical one on Andre Iguodala with the score still 102-98 before Utah's late-game run of free throws. "We just stuck to our offense," Harpring said. "We ran our plays down the stretch, and were able to get good shots. If we weren't able to get a good shot, we got fouled. We played pretty good defense down the stretch, too." Palacio, who had a game-saving defensive stop on Iverson the first time Philadelphia and Utah played this season, had a third straight strong finish.</div> Source
