NBA-Jazz overcome Wizards, clinch seventh succesive win

WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The Utah Jazz rallied to beat the Washington Wizards 96-87 on Friday, with Mehmet Okur's 27 points and 11 rebounds steering them to their seventh win in a row.

Utah trailed 21-11 after the first quarter but dominated the second half to win for the 11th time in 12 games.

Okur paced the comeback with 19 of his points after intermission.

"It was a big win for us," the Jazz center told reporters.

"In the second half, we attacked the defense, everybody really shared the ball, and we were active on defense. It was a very different game."

Andrei Kirilenko added 16 points and Deron Williams had 11 points and 12 assists for the Jazz, who won despite standout Carlos Boozer being held to four points.

"The Wizards had us out of sync with their different defenses," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan told reporters. "Once we settled down and started running the floor and playing better, we were able to get back in the ballgame."

Antawn Jamison scored 31 points for Washington, who played without injured All-Star Caron Butler.

* Kobe Bryant scored 46 points when the Los Angeles Lakers crushed the Toronto Raptors 121-101.

* Richard Jefferson's 25 points helped the New Jersey Nets snap a seven-game road losing streak with a 94-85 victory over the Miami Heat. Dwyane Wade had 15 for Miami.

* Rookie Carl Landry's jumper broke a 101-101 tie and the Houston Rockets went on to beat the Indiana Pacers 106-103. Landry finished with 22 points. Tracy McGrady added 19 for the Rockets and Yao Ming had 17 points and 12 rebounds.

* Hedo Turkoglu sank two free throws with two seconds remaining to wrap up the Orlando Magic's 108-106 road win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Turkoglu finished with 23 points and team mate Dwight Howard added 17 points and 14 rebounds in the Magic's third successive win.

* The Sacramento Kings handed the New Orleans Hornets a second consecutive loss, winning 112-103 as Ron Artest scored 24 points and Kevin Martin and Brad Miller each had 22.

* Monta Ellis had 21 points and Stephen Jackson 19 in the Golden State Warriors' 127-96 rout of the Charlotte Bobcats. (Writing by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina, editing by Martin Petty)