SALT LAKE CITY (Ticker) -- After DeShawn Stevenson got carried off the court, the Utah Jazz got their revenge.
Andrei Kirilenko scored 20 points and Matt Harpring and Raul Lopez added 18 apiece as the the Jazz dominated the final 20 minutes after Stevenson's injury en route for a 99-90 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Utah lost starting point guard Carlos Arroyo to a sprained ankle early in the third quarter but got a bigger scare just minutes later. Stevenson landed awkwardly while driving to the basket and got sandwiched between Harpring and Milwaukee forward Tim Thomas, injuring his neck.
Stevenson stayed on the floor while the game continued before Utah regained possession and called a timeout. He was down for several minutes before being taken off the court on a stretcher and to a hospital, where it was determined his injury is not serious.
"We were a little confused because no one knew what happened with DeShawn," Lopez said. "I think everybody was a little worried. But I think at that time, we started to play a little harder."
Utah coach Jerry Sloan was called for a technical foul for arguing that there was no foul called on the play. Michael Redd buried the ensuing free throw to give Milwaukee a 56-53 edge.
"I never worry about it but I hate to see guys get hurt," Sloan said. "If we have anyone get hurt, it shouldn't be an excuse; the guys have to play."
The game became extremely physical thereafter, with Utah getting called for three hard fouls in the next 50 seconds. Redd made four straight free throws for a 60-53 cushion, but the Jazz quickly regained their composure and the lead.
"Both of their guys got hurt inadvertently and emotions rose a little bit," Redd said. "We didn't do a good job matching their intensity after all that broke out. They rallied around each other and pulled it off."
"Jerry challenged his guys, so I knew it was going to be a physical game," Bucks coach Terry Porter said. "You can't step into Utah and think it's not going to be a physical game."
Utah seized control by scoring 30 of the next 41 points, highlighted by 10 from Lopez, who took over for Arroyo.
"Somebody had to (step up) because Carlos got hurt," Sloan said. "(Lopez) had to step up out there and play. I thought he did a good job trying to keep us in offense, made some baskets, and had things go pretty well."
Harping scored eight points during the stretch, capping it with a free throw that gave the Jazz an 83-71 advantage with 8:24 remaining.
Redd scored 28 points and Thomas added 22 before fouling out in the fourth quarter for Milwaukee, which has lost three in a row.
The game featured 29 fouls after Stevenson's injury, including 20 in the fourth quarter. Thomas helped Utah just 30 seconds into the period when he was called for a flagrant foul for shoving Lopez to the floor.
Lopez buried both free throws and made a reverse layup 43 seconds later for a 78-71 edge. He added a 3-pointer with 10:33 to go, giving the Jazz a double-digit lead for the first time since the first quarter.
