The Jazz talked before the season about being an improved road team, but it hasn't worked out that way yet. They returned home from a 1-4 road trip and beat Phoenix 109-97 on Monday to improve to 5-0 at home.
They will have the chance to win a sixth consecutive home game Wednesday against Milwaukee, which will be arriving from Denver to play the second game of a back-to-back set. Former Utah Ute Andrew Bogut is averaging 11.2 points for the Bucks this season. The true test for the Jazz won't come until they head out again on the road, on a trip Friday and Saturday to San Antonio and Memphis. The Jazz haven't beaten the Spurs in San Antonio since February 1999, a span of 21 games.
"Somehow we've got to bottle it up and take it with us," Carlos Boozer said. "We really are night and day, and hopefully we can get it going, because we don't want to have a road season like we had last year because that carried into the playoffs."
The Jazz welcomed back Andrei Kirilenko from a finger injury against Phoenix but will have to wait and see about Deron Williams and Mehmet Okur. Williams sat out his third consecutive game after a premature return from a sprained left ankle.
Okur had been bothered by a strained lower back even before he traveled to Turkey to be with his critically ill father. The 15-hour trip each way left him stiff, and Okur was unable to work out last week while staying by his father's side at the hospital.
JAZZ 109, SUNS 97: Not only did the Jazz blow open the game with a 17-2 run in the fourth quarter; Paul Millsap and Andrei Kirilenko combined to block three Shaquille O'Neal shots in the fourth quarter. Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Kirilenko had a season-high 19 points in his return after missing two games with a sprained right index finger.
