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SALT LAKE CITY -- Alec Burks didnt feel like he needed to be Gordon Hayward. He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Derrick Favors added 19 points and 15 rebounds while Trey Burke had 18 points for the Jazz, who won their fifth game in the last six home starts. Burks was filling in for Gordon Hayward, who sat out his second consecutive game after scoring a career-high 37 points -- including the last 17 -- in a win over Oklahoma City last Tuesday. The swingman strained his left hip flexor late in the game and his absence was apparent as Cleveland snapped Utahs four-game home winning streak on Friday, 113-102. But Burks made his presence felt from the start and had 17 in the first half to help the Jazz run out to a 67-53 lead, the highest first-half total for the Jazz this season. "I was just trying to get to the rim and put some pressure on them," Burks said. His teammates noticed his determination to get into the lane and that led to other open shots. "He came out and established himself from the get-go. He put a ton of pressure on their defence to collapse and try and stop him from scoring," Marvin Williams said. Ty Lawson had 23 points and J.J. Hickson scored 21 but the Nuggets trailed by as many as 24 points as they saw their improbable five-game winning streak come to an end. Burks wowed the crowd with a number of athletic drives to the hoop and several of his forays ended in a basket and a free throw. The Nuggets threw a number of defenders at the slippery Jazz guard but none could stay in front of him. "Some of the shots, I dont know how they went in. Alec said he missed a bunch of layups and I told him, You made a bunch of crazy layups." Richard Jefferson said. "His ability to finish in traffic and his size and the way he can handle the ball is unique." The third-year guard helped the Jazz score a season-high 64 points in the paint and kept his defenders on their heels. "With more opportunity, I am a wiser player now," Burks said. "I know now what everybodys going to do now, how they are going to play defence against me." It was Burks most potent offensive performance since he posted his previous career-best of 31 points in Miami on Dec. 16. But that was in a blowout loss. Burks made 13 of his 19 field goal attempts as the Jazz shot nearly 56 per cent against the Nuggets, who seemed to be one step behind the Utah offence all night. "Defence for the most part tonight was non-existent," Denver coach Brian Shaw said. Favours powerful dunk sparked a 10-2 surge to push the advantage to 77-57, the second time in three games the Jazz have led by more than 20 after achieving that wide margin only once the rest of the season. The lead reached 89-65 after Jefferson made a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter. The 118 points Utah tallied was the second-most the Jazz have scored all season, just under the 122 they scored in a runaway win in Sacramento on Dec. 11. "They had a lot of solutions," said Evan Fournier, who had 16 points for Denver. The Nuggets got a taste of their own medicine after they averaged 119.6 points a contest during their five-game win streak. But the energy and defence and accuracy that aided the Nuggets roll were absent against Utah. "We made a ton of mistakes tonight, letting the ball get to the middle and allowing them to penetrate our paint," Shaw said. The Nuggets were 21 of 34 from the line and several misses prevented them from cutting the lead to single digits in the fourth quarter. Notes: In addition to long-term injuries to Danilo Gallinari (left knee) and JaVale McGee (left leg), the Nuggets were without reserve forwards Darrell Arthur (left groin) and Anthony Randolph (left ankle). Fellow reserve Wilson Chandler has been battling a left hip strain and missed Denvers previous two games but scored 12 points in his return. ... Hayward, who leads Utah in scoring at 17.1 points per game, is day to day and planned to accompany the team on its upcoming three-game road trip starting Wednesday in San Antonio. Cheap Air Max 97 Wholesale . Infante hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and had an RBI single in a four-run fifth against former teammate Justin Verlander, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Tigers 11-8 Monday night. Cheap Air Max 97 Mens . 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A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press the Steelers will part ways with the former Pro Bowler, a move that hardly serves as a surprise after fifth-year linebacker Jason Worilds agreed to accept a "transition player" tag last week.NEW YORK -- The New Jersey Devils put up a more respectable number of shots, and the added offence produced just enough goals to beat the rival New York Rangers again. Eric Gelinas scored on a power play 1:15 into overtime, after the Devils squandered the lead in the final seconds of regulation, to lift New Jersey to a 4-3 win Saturday night. The Devils managed only 11 shots Friday in a 3-1 home loss to Detroit. They fired 24 at Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, and got four past the man with the new seven-year, $59.5 million contract. "Im fortunate to be out there in that type of situation, and I gave it a shot," Gelinas said. "It definitely feels good to be rewarded and to get that winner, but it was a team effort." New Jersey has won all three meetings against the Rangers this season, including two at Madison Square Garden, with two remaining. "These are fun games to play," said Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, who wore new pads without breaking them in. "To come in here, get the puck to the net, score some goals, it feels good." Gelinas one-timed a shot, off a pass from Patrik Elias, from above the right circle past Lundqvist. The goal came 13 seconds after Rangers captain Ryan Callahan high-sticked Andy Greene in the mouth. "My intent was to swing around and get his stick, but it comes up too high and catches him," Callahan said. "Its a bad penalty. It cost us a point." Michael Ryder had put the Devils ahead 3-2 with 4:04 left. Chris Kreider tied it on a power-play goal with 21.3 seconds left. Brodeur made 21 saves for the Devils, who earned just their third win in nine games (3-5-1). Travis Zajac lifted the Devils into a 2-all tie 5:58 into the third period. Cam Janssen also scored, and Jaromir Jagr and Tim Sestito both had two assists. Brad Richards and Mats Zuccarello also had goals for the Rangers, who again failed to move two games over .500 as they began a nine-game homestand. Lundqvist made 20 saves in his first home start since signing his contract extension. The Rangers fell to 11-1-1 when leading after two periods and 14-2-1 when scoring first. "Its a big point," Lundqvist said of the overtime loss. "We never gave up, so thats a good sign. We just didnt get the bounces." Zajac, in his 500th NHL game, got the Devils even when he cleaned up a rebound of a shot by Jagr and scored from in close. The Devils, with revamped line combinations and changes to the lineup, put early pressure on Lundqvist, but despite recording the first three shots, New Jersey fell behind 3:32 in.dddddddddddd New York raced out of its zone on a 2-on-1 break, with Richards carrying the puck on left wing alongside Callahan to his right. Richards snapped a drive from the left circle -- the Rangers first shot -- that beat Brodeur stick side for his team-leading ninth and second in two games. There was more jump to the Devils offence than on Friday, yet they couldnt get anything past Lundqvist in the first period on nine shots. "We knew we were going to need some depth contributions," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. "We got them from Janssen, the fourth line, Peter Harrold, who I thought was excellent. "We needed a lot of energy, and those guys gave it to us." The Rangers made the most of their early offence again in the second period, this time scoring on their second shot that came off a big rebound. Callahan ripped a drive from the right circle that Brodeur sticked away to his right, but it came to Zuccarello, who stepped into a hard shot from the left circle that easily found its way into the open left side 57 seconds in. New Jersey got a fortunate bounce when Janssens third of the season cut the deficit in half at 6:02. The rugged forward, who scored only three goals in 312 career NHL games before this season, crashed the net toward a rebound of Sestitos shot and knocked the puck past Lundqvist with his left skate. The on-ice call stood up to a video review. "I thought it was a kick, but it doesnt matter," said Lundqvist, who will make his third straight start Sunday against Washington. "They got it, and in the end they just managed to get the bounces. Its a frustrating loss." Brodeur earned the secondary assist, the 43rd of his career. NOTES: Rangers D Marc Staal was struck in the head by the arm of New Jerseys Reid Boucher in the third period and left the game. It wasnt immediately known if Staal would play Sunday. ... Harrold filled in for D Marek Zidlicky, who sat out with an upper-body injury. RW Damien Brunner returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch Friday, replacing C Jacob Josefson. ... D Justin Falk replaced D Michael Del Zotto, and newly recalled C J.T. Miller took LW Benoit Pouliots place in the Rangers lineup. RW Derek Dorsett sat out for the fourth time in six games with a wrist injury. ' ' '