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Trail Blazers-Jazz Preview

Feb 2, 2010 - 8:30 PM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Portland (29-21) at Utah (29-18), 9:00 p.m. EDT

Deron Williams hopes the surging Utah Jazz don't get complacent. Without Carlos Boozer, they have appeared even more focused.

Boozer's status is uncertain as the Jazz try to extend a season-best six-game winning streak in a matchup with the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

Utah (29-18) has won eight straight at home and 10 of 11 overall, including a 106-95 victory at Portland last Wednesday night. In two games without Boozer, the Jazz beat Sacramento 101-94 on Friday night and Dallas 104-92 on Monday.

Boozer, averaging team highs of 19.2 points and 10.7 rebounds, has been out with a strained right calf. Still, the Jazz outrebounded the Mavericks 43-34 and outscored them 54-32 in the paint to continue their best run of the season.

"We just have everybody playing at a high level right now," Williams said. "We have a lot of confidence and we understand what it takes to win right now. Hopefully we don't get too confident and too cocky and just keep doing what we need to to win."

Paul Millsap certainly isn't letting his play slip. In two games as Boozer's replacement, Millsap is averaging 28.5 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 63.6 percent.

His latest strong effort helped draw Utah within a half-game of Dallas for third place in the Western Conference. The Jazz lead the Blazers (29-21) by 1 1/2 games.

"We haven't really set a goal of trying to get in third," Williams said. "We're just trying to win games, keep the streak alive. We're playing our best basketball and we want to keep doing that."

Portland has lost some steam in the race, playing eight of its last nine games without leading scorer Brandon Roy (hamstring). The Blazers are 3-5 without Roy, who is averaging 23.1 points, 5.0 assists and 4.6 rebounds.

Roy, selected as a reserve on the West All-Star team, will not face the Jazz. He's expected to be re-evaluated Thursday.

Andre Miller helped Portland overcome Roy's absence with a career game Saturday night, scoring 52 points in a 114-112 overtime victory over Dallas. On Monday night, he defered to his teammates for the most part, posting 10 assists in a 98-79 win over Charlotte.

It was Portland's largest margin of victory since beating Chicago 122-98 on Nov. 23.

The Blazers, determined to overcome the slow starts that have been hurting them of late, made their first four shots and ended up shooting 53.3 percent Monday. Last week against Utah, Portland couldn't recover from a 37-16 deficit heading into the second quarter.

Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge had a game-high 25 points in that contest and is averaging 20.4 in his last nine.

Jerryd Bayless, starting in place of Roy, has had the most consistent stretch of his two-year career, averaging 14.4 points in his last seven games.

The Jazz, who lead the NBA in shooting at 49.0 percent, have shot 60.4 in winning both meetings with Portland this season. Utah has won 15 of its last 17 at home against the Trail Blazers.