Okur leads Jazz past Warriors

Matt Harpring delivered 15 points in 17 minutes off the bench to help the Jazz to their second straight victory to begin the season. Utah tipped off the year with an impressive 93-82 win over Dallas on Wednesday.

Jason Richardson and Derek Fisher each scored 18 points for the Warriors, who failed to achieve its first 2-0 start since 1994-95. Troy Murphy added 12 points and eight rebounds in the loss before fouling out late.

Golden State played without star guard Baron Davis, who strained his left hamstring in Wednesday’s triumph over Atlanta, and struggled all night against the Jazz’s tough defense. The Warriors shot just 37 percent and produced their lowest point total in 20 games dating back to last season.

The Jazz were down 48-46 after Golden State’s Mike Dunleavy drained a three- pointer with 7:46 to play in the third quarter, but took control with a 14-2 burst over the next four-plus minutes. Okur netted eight points during the run, including a jumper just inside the arc which put Utah up 58-50 at the 3:35 mark of the period. Two made foul shots by Keith McLeod seconds later extended the margin to double-digits.

Utah took a 72-58 lead after rookie Deron Williams buried an outside shot to begin the fourth quarter, but the Warriors answered with seven straight points to get back into it. Golden State closed the gap even further when Zarko Cabarkapa sank a triple with 5:33 remaining which pulled the hosts within 79-75.

That was as close as the Warriors would come, however, as Williams hit another long jumper after Jarron Collins hit two free throws to extend the lead to eight with 4 1/2 minutes to go.

Golden State continued to misfire from the floor, and six consecutive successful foul shots by the Jazz made the score 91-78 with two minutes remaining.

Utah led 19-16 at the end of an uneventful first quarter and extended its advantage to seven points in the second after a short jumper by Williams and two Kris Humphries free throws made the score 32-25 with 6:37 remaining before intermission.

The Warriors got to within four on two occasions, but back-to-back baskets by Okur and Andrei Kirilenko put the Jazz up 40-32 heading into the final two minutes of the half.

However, Golden State closed out the second quarter with an 8-2 run capped by Fisher’s jump shot with 13 seconds on the clock to cut its deficit to 42-40 at the break. Fisher finished the first half with a game-high 11 points.

The Warriors grabbed their first lead since the game’s early moments when Fisher’s 20-footer less than two minutes into the third quarter put Golden State up 44-43.

Game Notes

Utah head coach Jerry Sloan moved past Bill Fitch for sole possession on the NBA’s all-time win list with his 945th career victory...Golden State last scored under 100 points on March 14 of last season, when the Warriors fell 97-94 to Houston...The Jazz had lost five of their last six at Golden State coming in...Dunleavy finished with 13 points in the loss.