NBA - Turkey's Okur drills former team Detroit as Utah prevail

SALT LAKE CITY (NBA) - The Utah Jazz didn’t get much production from EuroBasket MVP Andrei Kirilenko on Wednesday but Turkey national team star Mehmet Okur was in form as they beat the Detroit Pistons.

While Russia’s Kirilenko scoring just four points in more than 24 minutes, Okur nailed four of eight shots from three-ball range and finished with 24 as Utah (37-21) defeated the Detroit Pistons 103-95.

Okur also had seven rebounds against the Pistons (42-16), a team he won an NBA title with in 2004 before moving to Salt Lake City.

USA international Deron Williams was also excellent, scoring 14 and dishing out 14 assists.

The Phoenix Suns were no match for the New Orleans Hornets, who beat them 120-103 in a battle of Western Conference high-fliers.

The Denver Nuggets brought back memories of the old NBA when points explosions were the norm in a 138-96 triumph over the Seattle Supersonics.

Lithuania national team star Linas Kleiza had 15 points and Team USA’s Carmelo Anthony 16 but the leading scorer for Denver, who racked up the biggest total of the season, was Allen Iverson who had 31.

The Cavs’ Team USA superstar LeBron James became the youngest player to reach 10,000 points in NBA history but his 26 weren’t enough for Cleveland, who slipped to a 92-87 defeat at Boston.

In other games, Toron beat Minnesota 107-85, Philadelphia thumped the Orlando Magic 101-89 and Atlanta won at home against the Sacramento Kings, 123-117.

Larry Hughes, recently acquired in the trade that sent Ben Wallace to Cleveland, had 29 points to fire the Chicago Bulls past the Indiana Pacers, 113-107.

The New York Knicks won 113-89 over the visiting Charlotte Bobcats and Portland scraped an 82-80 road success at the Los Angeles Clippers.

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