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Healthy Okur hurts SuperSonics

SuperSonics guard Damien Wilkins, right, attempts to get past Utah's Kyle Korver. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review
SuperSonics guard Damien Wilkins, right, attempts to get past Utah's Kyle Korver. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

SALT LAKE CITY – Once Mehmet Okur’s body felt better, his pinpoint shooting returned to form – just in time for the Utah Jazz.

Okur, who has been ailing with a stomach flu this week, scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half Saturday night and sparked Utah’s game-changing run in a 115-101 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics, who have lost 11 in a row.

Okur missed most of Utah’s games against Toronto on Monday and struggled against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.

“I have finally been able to eat regular food and work out the last couple days. I missed some shots in the first half but I stayed hungry and made my first few shots after halftime,” Okur said.

Okur helped the Jazz erase a nine-point halftime deficit in the first few minutes after the break, then hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to put Utah up by 10. The Sonics couldn’t recover.

“Memo was cooking,” said Carlos Boozer, who led the Jazz with 26 points and 13 rebounds, his 45th double-double.

The Jazz rebounded from a 106-95 loss to the Lakers on Thursday night that snapped their home winning streak at 19 games.

“Once I made a 3, they tried to jump out on me and I was able to put the ball on the floor and take it to the basket and get to the line. It was nice to really feel good out there again,” said Okur, who also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Jeff Green had a career-high 23 points and fellow rookie Kevin Durant also scored 23 points for the Sonics, who were outscored 63-40 in the second half. Seattle has lost its last nine road games by an average more than 20 points.

“We played really hard and it was a hard-fought game but they made the big-time shots tonight,” Durant said.

Deron Williams had 15 points and 14 assists while penetrating at will in the second half. Because of injuries, Luke Ridnour had to play the entire second half and couldn’t stay with the shifty Jazz guard.

“I’m just having fun and my teammates are hitting shots and that’s where the assists are from. I can’t take all the credit. I’m definitely finding them, but they have to hit the shots,” Williams said.

Ronnie Brewer scored 14 points and Matt Harpring and Korver each had 11 off the bench. The Jazz improved the best home record in the NBA to 30-4.

“What we did in the first half was fire the ball up there and we never had any chance to defend the floor. Once we started moving the ball around, we started getting more confidence,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said.