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Jazz look to end long slide in San Antonio

Mar 30, 2007 - 2:12 PM Utah (47-24) at San Antonio (51-20) 8:00 pm EDT

SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) - Carlos Boozer and the Utah Jazz just clinched their first division title in eight years. Now they head to their personal house of horrors.

The Jazz seek their first win in San Antonio in more than eight years Friday when they face the red-hot San Antonio Spurs.

Fresh off clinching the Northwest Division title, Utah heads to San Antonio where it has lost its last 15 meetings dating to February 28, 1999, when the Spurs played in the Alamodome.

On Wednesday, the Jazz won their third straight game, a 108-102 triumph over Minnesota. Carlos Boozer had 25 points and 11 rebounds to pace Utah. He is averaging 31.3 points and 14.0 rebounds in his last three games.

Despite winning the division, the Jazz still have work to do as they attempt to stay in front of Houston for fourth place and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Utah is 1 1/2 games ahead of Houston (46-26).

San Antonio has slim hopes of winning the Southwest Division, but still has the NBA's third-best record behind Dallas (60-11) and Phoenix (53-18).

The Spurs have won five straight and 18 of their last 20 games.

On Wednesday, Tim Duncan scored 31 points and Brent Barry hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Spurs rallied for a 92-88 victory over New Orleans. San Antonio had trailed by nine points in the fourth quarter.

The Jazz have won two of three meetings between the teams this season.