Stars struck: No stars, no problem for Jazz, winners of 3 straight News New Orleans Hornets

The team with no All-Stars this season out-did the one with the three. And it wasn't without all the lunch-bucket effort they could muster that the Jazz topped the defending NBA-champion Boston Celtics, rallying in the fourth quarter to win 90-85 in a late-starting TNT-televised game at sold-out EnergySolutions Arena. "This was a grind-it-out defensive game, and we battled with them all night," Jazz point guard Deron Williams said. "It's a great win."

It was the third straight and sixth in seven outings for the 32-23 Jazz, who came into the night clinging by a half game to the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff position. The current Eastern Conference-leading Celtics, who were playing their third of six straight road games and for the first time following last weekend's NBA All-Star Game, lost for the third time in their last 18 outings. And it took quite a comeback for all that to unfold. Power forward Paul Millsap banked in a fall-to-the-floor jumper and hit the free throw that followed to put Utah up 77-76 with five minutes and 44 seconds to go, marking the Jazz's first lead since 7-6 early in the opening quarter. With the game tied at 83 and just 1:01 remaining, reserve forward Matt Harpring hit a jumper to put Utah ahead to stay. Williams followed with a fallaway jumper 41 seconds later to give the Jazz a four-point cushion, and Utah sealed its victory with one free throw from Andrei Kirilenko and two by Ronnie Brewer in the final 8.1 seconds. Center Mehmet Okur led the Jazz with 19 points, Williams had an 18-point and 10-assist double-double and Brewer added another 16 points. The 44-12 Celtics got 20 points from All-Star Paul Pierce and 12 from fellow All-Star Ray Allen, but they went all of the second half without the third of their shining trio, Kevin Garnett. Garnett strained his already sore right knee while rising on a defensive play in the second quarter, and exited for the rest of the period. He briefly returned to the floor for halftime warmups, but did not play again after the break. The extent of the injury was not immediately known, and the former NBA MVP will be reevaluated today. The Jazz, meanwhile, managed to go into the second half down just one despite shooting only 29.3 percent (12-for-41) from the field. Williams was the only scorer from either side to hit double digits before the break, and he had just 10. The Jazz hit only 19 percent (4-for-12) in the opening quarter, and as a result they trailed 22-13 after 12 minutes. They were still down by a first-half high of 11 at 26-15 when Jazz coach Jerry Sloan picked up his eighth technical foul of the season. Utah rallied around that, and when Kirilenko hit 1-of-2 free throws with 0.8 seconds remaining in the half ? the result of a Glen Davis foul on the Jazz forward's drive to the basket ? Boston's lead had been whittled to 39-38. "That was a great win," Sloan said. "I thought our guys really sucked it up and hung in there." MISC.: Okur missed Tuesday's win over Memphis due to flu-like symptoms, but he returned against the Celtics. ... With Okur back, both center Kyrylo Fesenko and guard Morris Almond were healthy but inactive Thursday. ... Power forward Carlos Boozer (arthroscopic knee surgery) missed a 43rd straight game, pushing Utah's total of man games lost to injury and illness this season to 139. ... The Jazz are now 4-0 on national television this season, including 3-0 on TNT. ... The Celtics on Thursday recalled rookie guard J.R. Giddens from the Utah Flash, the Orem-based NBA Development League affiliate they share with the Jazz. Giddens has averaged 17.6 points in 15 games for the Flash this season. He dressed but did not play Thursday. ... Thursday's game was third outing of a five-game Jazz homestand that continues Saturday night vs. Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets. E-MAIL: tbuckley@desnews.com">tbuckley@desnews.com