National Basketball Association

Burks lifts Jazz to 105-100 win over 76ers

Published Feb. 13, 2014 12:42 a.m. ET

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) There are times when Alec Burks is driving to the hoop and he has no idea what he's going to do.

''I surprise myself on some of these shots I make,'' Utah's reserve guard said.

The Jazz breathed a collective sigh of relief when Burks put together a string of circus shots after the rest of the team had gone cold.

Burks scored 10 of his 26 points in the final two minutes to lift the Jazz to a 105-100 win over the skidding Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.

''Alec did a great job closing the game out for us, attacking the basket,'' said Utah coach Ty Corbin after the Jazz endured a six-minute scoreless stretch with seven missed shots and two turnovers.

The game was tied 91-1ll when the Jazz looked to Burks to create some offense. The guard made a number of acrobatic drives to the basket and capped a personal 9-0 run with a soaring dunk to make it 100-91 with 22 seconds to play.

Utah's top scorer off the bench got to the free throw line with his aggressive play, making 13 of 14 from the stripe in 22 minutes of play.

''I relish contact. I really was just trying to be aggressive,'' Burks said. ''That's my game, going to the hoop.''

His clutch scoring extended Utah's season-best winning streak to three and sent the Sixers to their ninth straight road loss to the Jazz.

Evan Turner scored 21 points and Michael Carter-Williams and Thaddeus Young had 19 apiece for Philadelphia. The 76ers lost their eighth straight, the last two by more than 40 points while nearly matching the NBA mark for the largest total margin of defeat in consecutive games.

Philadelphia has given up nearly 116 points per game over the eight-game skid.

Gordon Hayward scored 17 and Marvin Williams had 13 points and a season-high 14 rebounds as the Jazz had six players score in double figures. The problem was that no one could find the hoop in the middle of the fourth quarter when they surrendered a 14-point lead.

Burks hit a 3-pointer and Richard Jefferson stole a pass and dunked for an 85-71 lead with 10:02 to play.

The 76ers then rallied, extending their defense and holding the Jazz scoreless for more than six minutes during a 13-0 run. Spencer Hawes tipped in his own miss to cap the run and then Carter-Williams converted a three-point play after Trey Burke broke Utah's drought to tie the game at 91 with 2:10 to play.

Burks had 24 to lead the Jazz over the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday and then continued his instant offense in the second half the back-to-back set. Utah's reserves outscored their Philadelphia counterparts, 56-10.

James Anderson, who had 15 points, made a trio of 3-pointers in the final 18 seconds, but it was too late after Burks' outburst.

The Sixers showed some fight in their last game before the All-Star break and the finale of a disastrous three-game road trip.

Following a 123-78 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the 76ers fell behind by 49 points before losing 123-80 to Golden State on Monday

No other team in NBA history had lost two straight games by at least 40 points each. Philadelphia has now done it twice, having lost back-to-back games in April 1994 by a combined 93 points.

The Detroit Pistons set the record for margin of defeat in consecutive games, losing 95 points combined in back-to-back games in November 1966, according to STATS.

One highlight for Philadelphia has been the play of rookie Carter-Williams, who had eight assists and leads all rookies in scoring, rebounding and assists.

This was the first game between Carter-Williams, who was drafted 11th, and fellow lottery pick Burke (picked ninth) since their Final Four meeting in April. Burke struggled again Wednesday as he did in Michigan's 61-56 win over Syracuse, when he had seven points on 1-of-8 shooting. Burke had seven points on 3-of-12 shooting against Philadelphia.

''I thought Michael played with great poise. He could have handled this particular matchup in different ways. I thought he grew tonight,'' Sixers coach Brett Brown said.

Derrick Favors left the game in the first quarter after re-injuring his right hip. He missed a wide-open layup on the first Jazz possession of the game and never got any lift. In six minutes of play, he limped slightly and then left the game and went to the locker room.

The Jazz center has missed four other games with the hip strain and Utah had lost all six contests when Favors is out with injury.

NOTES: Brandon Davies, who was raised in Utah and played at BYU, has missed the Sixers' last 14 games with a fractured pinkie finger. ... In the third quarter, the Sixers purposely fouled Rudy Gobert, who shoots 51 percent from the line, but the 7-footer swished both attempts. ... Philadelphia backup big man Lavoy Allen left the game with a sore left knee and did not return.