Jazz End Road Losing Streak With Win at Magic

Paul Millsap scored a career-best 28 points to help the Utah Jazz to end their seven-game losing streak on the road as they recorded a 113-94 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday.

Millsap scored 13 consecutive points in the third quarter, which proved the decisive period for the Jazz. The forward made a total of 11 of 15 from the field during the game, and he was delighted with his performance. "It is a great feeling," he said after the game. "It is a great thing for our team to come out with this win and break this streak on the road."

Deron Williams also contributed 17 points and seven assists, with Matt Harpring adding 10 points on his return after missing three games with a gastric problem. In all, Utah were boosted by a 50-point contribution from their bench, which outscored Orlando's reserves by 30 points. "Our bench has been terrific and they helped us win this game especially in the third quarter," said Carlos Boozer, who himself had 24 points and nine rebounds.

The loss was the sixth in eight games for the Magic, who were led by Hedo Turkoglu with 27 points and Dwight Howard with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said: "We were ahead by one at the half simply because we shot the ball well. There's not one guy out there, not one guy tonight could compete with the guy he was playing against, not one guy."

The Detroit Pistons cruised to a comfortable fourth-straight win as their defense proved too tight for the Memphis Grizzlies in a 94-67 victory at The Palace of Auburn Hills. After ending the Celtics' unbeaten home run on Wednesday, the Pistons were impressive again as they strangled the Grizzlies offense, while five Detroit players scored 10 points or more, led by Tayshun Prince with 16 points, and Antonio McDyess with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

"They were coming off a big win but so were we and we felt we should come in here with a lot of energy and see what we can do," said Memphis coach Marc Lavaroni. "They did a great job. Their defense just strangled us."

The Grizzlies came into the game high on confidence after their upset win over the Western Conference leaders, the San Antonio Spurs. Pau Gasol returned for Memphis after missing four games with a jammed toe, but the Spaniard looked jaded after the lay-off, and missed a number of open shots. Gasol still managed to collect 10 points and 10 rebounds, but it was not enough to put his team within reach of the impressive Pistons.

"I'm a little sore. It's going to be sore for a while," said Gasol, who has 10 or more points in every game he has played this season. "I just have to play hard. I was a little off but it's my first action in a few days." Pistons coach Flip Saunders was pleased with his team's reaction to a first-half deficit. Detroit trailed 29-25 early in the second quarter, but battled back to take a 42-38 lead at the half. Saunders highlighted the third quarter, when the Pistons stretched their lead to 14 points, as the key period of the game. "At the end of the first half we made a couple of plays and they really came out in the third quarter," said Saunders. "Once we got to about [a] seven or eight [point lead] our defense turned it up."

The victory took Detroit's home record to 10-2. They host Houston Rockets on Sunday.