SALT LAKE City. — Deron Williams scored 17
points and made 20 assists to lead the Utah Jazz to a 116-110
win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, their 16th successive
home victory.
Carlos Boozer added 28 points and Mehmet
Okur contributed 20 point and 12 rebounds for the Jazz, who
won despite losing Andrei Kirilenko to a hip injury in the
first quarter.
Josh Howard led Dallas with 25 points. Dirk
Nowitzki added 23 points and Jason Terry scored 21. Point
guard Jason Kidd finished with 19 points and nine assists.
Dallas rallied from a 21-point first
quarter deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter. But
Utah went on a 14-0 run to reclaim the lead.
Chris Paul scored 27 points to spark the
New Orleans Hornets to a 100-88 road win over the New York
Knicks.
Yao Ming’s hopes of taking part in August’s
Beijing Olympics were given a boost when he underwent
successful surgery on his injured left foot in the US late on
Monday.
The 7-foot-6 center, China’s
highest-earning and most popular sportsman, faces up to four
months recuperating after the operation at a hospital in
Houston.
"Yao is comfortable and recovering well
after surgery," Rockets team doctor Tom Clanton said.
"We will continue to monitor his recovery
and begin an aggressive rehabilitation once he is physically
deemed ready."
Yao is key to China’s hopes of a medal in
the Olympic basketball tournament at the Aug. 8-24 Games and a
leading candidate to perform the prestigious role of lighting
the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony.
"I am very relieved that everything went
well with my surgery today," Yao said.
"I look forward to getting better and
starting my physical rehab as soon as the doctors say I can. I
would like to thank everyone for their kind wishes during this
time and I look forward to the day that I can rejoin my
Rockets teammates on the bench."
The diagnosis of a stress fracture to his
left foot last week brought an end to the 27-year-old’s NBA
season, during which he had has averaged 22 points and 10.8
rebounds for the Rockets.
There was a more minor injury worry for another member of
the "Great Wall of China," forward Yi Jianlian, whose
Milwaukee Bucks team said he had a sprained ankle.
