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Jazz-Trail Blazers Preview

Jan 27, 2010 - 3:14 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Utah (26-18) at Portland (27-19), 10:00 p.m. EDT

Winning seven of eight has the Utah Jazz feeling they're playing their best basketball of the season. That confidence would undoubtedly increase if they could snap a six-game road losing streak to the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Jazz look to continue their surge Wednesday night when they face the Trail Blazers for the first of two meetings in just over a week.

Utah (26-18) is averaging 111.9 points over the last eight games - 10.1 points higher than its season average and an increase of 17.8 from its previous nine games, during which they dropped six.

The Jazz use an offensive burst late Monday, as they scored the final 12 points of the third quarter before pulling away in the fourth for a 124-115 win over Phoenix. Their third-quarter run erased a 17-point deficit before outscoring the Suns 33-19 in the fourth.

"We just felt like we had the momentum," said guard Deron Williams, who had 18 points and 11 assists as Utah set a season high for points scored. "We just felt it shifted. We were able to get it to like four or five and you could just see them hanging their heads a little bit.

"The way we came back and hung in there, it was just a great team effort. We're definitely playing our best basketball right now."

Carlos Boozer is also enjoying a strong stretch after scoring 21 and pulling down 20 boards against Phoenix. The forward is averaging 24.7 points and 14.0 rebounds during Utah's three-game winning streak, and the two-time All-Star leads the Jazz with 19.4 points and 10.8 boards per game.

Boozer and Williams were a big part of Utah's 108-92 home win over Portland (27-18) on Nov. 28. Boozer had 26 points and 12 rebounds, while Williams scored 24 and dished out 15 assists, one shy of his season high.

The duo could be key again as Utah will try to move into a second-place tie with the Trail Blazers in the Northwest Division. The Jazz are third, one game behind Portland, which trails first-place Denver by three games.

Since April 1, 2006, though, the Jazz have lost six in a row at the Rose Garden, including two defeats last season by an average of 17.5 points.

The Trail Blazers appeared headed to a second consecutive victory Monday, but were outscored 10-1 during the final 3:06 to lose 98-97 to New Orleans. Chris Paul scored the decisive basket with 3.8 seconds to play, handing Portland its third defeat in five games.

"This is tough to lose a game like this, especially on your floor," coach Nate McMillan said. "It's going to be this way for, I think, the rest of this season where it's going to be close. It's going to come down to the stretch and we're going to have to execute and be good in the fourth quarter."

Portland isn't expected to have Brandon Roy, the team's leader with 23.1 points per game, for a fourth consecutive contest due to a right hamstring injury. The swingman re-aggravated the injury in a 98-90 win over Philadelphia on Jan. 20 after sitting out the previous two games.

With Roy likely out again, the Blazers may move Jerryd Bayless back in the starting lineup. He posted 12 points and five assists off the bench Monday, two nights after a sprained left ankle forced him to miss a 97-93 win at Detroit.

Bayless had 14 points against Utah in November, and is averaging 9.0 points and 2.4 assists in 38 games with four starts.

Portland will visit Utah on Feb. 3.