USA - Okur bids for All-Star call

NEW YORK (NBA) - Turkey forward Mehmet Okur made his case to get a late call-up for the All-Star Game, scoring 19 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 102-76 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

It was a fifth-straight win for the Jazz, who have been carried by Okur with Carlos Boozer injured. Okur is averaging 25.6 points and eight rebounds during the stretch.

With Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash sidelined, Okur has been mentioned as a possible replacement for the Canada international in this weekend’s All-Star celebrations in Las Vegas,

"That would be a great honour to me, my family and my country," Okur said. "If that happened, it would definitely be my dream come true. We'll see what's gonna happen (Wednesday). I'm excited."

With a nine-point lead already in hand after the first quarter, the Jazz used a 12-5 burst before the half to grab a 50-32 advantage at intermission.

"They played (Sunday). And so we just came out there and made them run on the floor," Okur said. "Everybody played unselfish basketball, shared the ball well, played good defence. It was a good win for us."

Jazz guard Deron Williams netted two of his seven points with a dunk at the 7:11 mark in the third quarter, sparking an 11-3 run to make it 67-43.

Williams, who might also be in consideration as Nash's replacement, handed out nine assists and is averaging 19.3 points and 8.6 assists since Boozer's knee injury.

"I'm definitely hopeful," Williams said. "That'd be a dream and an honour to be on the All-Star team. I'm hoping, but it's out of my control. I'm not gonna sweat it. I'm just going to wait."

Elton Brand of the Los Angeles Clippers and Zach Randolph of the Portland Trail Blazers are also in the running for the All-Star slot.

Derek Fisher scored 14 points and rookie Paul Millsap added 13 and nine rebounds off the bench for Utah.

There was controversy in Monday’s game when Utah’s Brazilian reserve Rafael Araujo was ejected for his flagrant-2 foul on Marvin Williams, who was elbowed in the face on a driving layup with 9:27 remaining.

"It was a weird call. I didn't mean to do anything," Araujo said.

"I just went to the help position, tried to cover my man and I got caught, and the referee just thought it was a different way. It's just basketball. I don't think I should have been kicked out of the game."

Hawks coach Mike Woodson saw it differently.

"He should have been kicked out and he should be suspended," he said.

"You take a guy's face off like that, it's unacceptable. You can't do that."

Fellow Brazilian Nene had a better night as he scored 24 points to help the Denver Nuggets to a 123-111 win over the Golden State Nuggets.

JR Smith and Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points each to lead the way.

Denver led, 65-59, at the half and pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring Golden State, 40-28. Smith scored Denver's final seven points of the quarter, including a three-pointer at the buzzer.

He came out and opened the fourth with a pair of three-pointers to make it 111-87.

Al Harrington scored 24 points and Kelenna Azubuike added 23 for Golden State, who dropped to 6-20 on the road with the loss.

Already without France international Mickael Pietrus and Jason Richardson, the Warriors were also missing Baron Davis, who will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Tuesday.

In Detroit, Chris Webber had 19 points and nine rebounds and Richard Hamilton scored 15 points as the Pistons extended their winning streak to seven games with a 92-74 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Tayshaun Prince netted 14 points and Rasheed Wallace chipped in 10 and two blocks for the Pistons, who have won six in a row at the Palace and against the Clippers.

With the win, Detroit (32-18) pulled within one game of tying their season-high eight-game winning streak set from December 17-January 1.

Cuttino Mobley scored 17 points and Chris Kaman added 13 and nine rebounds for Los Angeles.

Ian Parker
FIBA