Utah Jazz Team Report - November 4

(Basketball News) - The Utah Jazz began their 2004-05 campaign with a 104-78 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Delta Center on Wednesday night.

Carlos Boozer scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in his Utah debut. Boozer was signed as a free agent in the offseason after spending his first two years in Cleveland.

Andrei Kirilenko, who received a lucrative contract extension last week, scored 16 points, blocked a career-high eight shots and hauled in six boards for the Jazz, who opened their season in positive fashion.

Matt Harpring added 23 points off the bench for Utah.

The Jazz scored the game’s first seven points, keyed by four from Boozer. Utah extended the cushion to 19-6 on Keith McLeod’s jumper and eventually carried a 25-13 edge after one period.

Curtis Borchardt’s jumper at the midway point of the second stanza widened the gap to 37-19 and Utah extended its cushion to 20 on McLeod’s basket moments later. The Jazz maintained their hefty edge and took a commanding 45-28 lead into the intermission. Utah never looked back in the second half.

The Jazz led by as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter.

The Jazz beat Los Angeles for only the second time in the last eight meetings. The home team has won 10 of the past 12 matchups.

Earlier on Wednesday, Howard Eisley signed a one-year contract with Utah. Eisley, who was waived by Phoenix last week, played for the Jazz and coach Jerry Sloan from 1995-2000 as John Stockton’s backup.

Utah has a day off before hitting the road for back-to-back games against Golden State and Denver.