After the Utah Jazz sleepwalked through a 35-point first half Monday night against the Washington Wizards at EnergySolutions Arena, their guards found a way to pick it up and penetrate the lane.
They didn't make the shots once they got there, but Carlos Boozer played Mop-up Man, which set off the biggest scoring game by a Jazzman in nearly seven years.
Boozer, who had five points on 1-for-5 shooting and just two rebounds in the first half, finished with 41 points, thanks to a 20-point, 9-for-10, nine-rebound third quarter.
It got rolling with a basket underneath off a Mehmet Okur assist, a defensive rebound and an offensive putback of a Derek Fisher missed layup, all in an 18-second span about the seven-minute mark. He had 19 points in the final 7:09 of the third period and added 16 more on 5-for-6 shooting in the fourth as the Jazz went on to a come-from-behind 103-97 win.
It was Utah's first 41-point game since Karl Malone on Dec. 20, 2000, and it was Boozer's career high, beating the 39 he scored on Jan. 24, 2006, against Memphis.
"That's a lot of gratification when we win," he said of reaching a career best. "Not nearly as important when we lose. I'm just happy we won the game. That's the most important thing."
His four third-quarter putbacks were a big help. "Absolutely. Any time you make some easy ones, the rim gets a little bit bigger," Boozer said.
"You know what? It was one of those things where our guards were quick enough to get by them, so they were attacking the rim. When that happens, the guys that were guarding me were going for blocked shots trying to stop our guards from shooting, so I would just follow them to the rim.
"When the shot went up, I'd go after the ball, and it was right by the rim, so I was just tapping it in, kind of."
Boozer also finished with 16 rebounds, and one of his two assists was major in Utah's win. With 1:46 left and the Jazz up 92-91, he had the ball outside the lane, on the right side. Washington double-teamed him, and he saw a flash of white uniform under the basket.
"That was huge," Boozer said. "I don't know if his man fell asleep, or if he came to double. I saw a white jersey under the rim and just swung it in there.
"When I saw who was catching it, I knew we had a bucket. That's what Matty does," said an animated Boozer. "Him and AK (Andrei Kirilenko) are our two best cutters off the ball. If they're going to fall asleep and give us layups, we'll take layups all day long."
Boozer insisted the play of the game was Fisher's 3-pointer from the left corner with 44.2 seconds left for a 99-95 lead after Fisher had come in cold off the bench when Kirilenko fouled out.
And he also said his kid brother, Charles, who's been in town for a week or more, is his "good-luck charm. That boy might stay till we get done," Boozer said.
"The great thing about having your little brother here — he just graduated (from high school in California) and got a scholarship to Iowa State, — so it puts you back in the days when you were coming out of high school and getting ready to sign somewhere.
"It kind of rejuvenates me a little bit to see what he's going through and remember the steps I took when I was in his class. It's pretty cool. It's like looking in the mirror a little bit."
Carlos says in a few years, there will be another Boozer in the league. "He loves the game. He has three or four years in college before he gets here, but he can't wait to get here — but he will get here. He's pretty good."
E-mail: lham@desnews.com