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Jazz kick off road trip vs. Wizards in DC

Jan 17, 2011 - 3:57 PM (Sports Network) - The Utah Jazz will commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by kicking off a five-game road trip Monday afternoon against the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.

Utah will also visit the Nets, Celtics, Sixers and Lakers on the road swing and is also 12-6 away from Salt Lake City this season. It has won three in a row overall and kept the winning ways intact with Friday's 121-99 blowout of lowly Cleveland at EnergySolutions Arena.

Deron Williams had 26 points and nine assists, C.J. Miles scored 20 points and Andrei Kirilenko, Al Jefferson and Raja Bell posted 15 points apiece for the well-rounded Jazz, who are tied atop the Northwest standings with Denver.

"We've been coming out with a lot more energy and having energy for pretty much the whole game except for a little spurt in that third quarter," said Williams. "Our second group came in again and gave us a big lift and got after people. It's a good team victory."

The Jazz scored a season-best 70 points in the first half against the Cavaliers and swept the season series with them for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign. A large part of Cleveland's success in the series was due to LeBron James, who's now in Miami.

Utah is 20-1 when scoring 100-plus points and 7-12 with less than 100.

Washington, meanwhile, has alternated wins and losses over its last six games and is coming off Saturday's 98-95 win versus the Toronto Raptors in DC.

Nick Young scored 29 points and Andray Blatche added 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards, who are 11-8 at home as opposed to their dreadful 0-19 record as the visitor this season.

"Right now he's got an unbelievable comfort level at home," Wizards coach Flip Saunders said of Young's play in the nation's capital. "We've got to get him to bring that killer instinct offensively on the road."

Young is averaging 29.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in his last three games. Rookie John Wall had eight points and nine assists against the Raptors, and is the first Wizard to have at least nine assists in seven straight games since Rod Strickland had a streak of 17 straight games of nine or more assists from Jan. 21-Feb. 28, 1998.

Wall leads all Eastern Conference rookies in the month of January in scoring (13.6 ppg) and assists (10.3 apg). Wizards forward Rashard Lewis is one rebound shy of 5,000 for his career.

Utah and Washington are meeting for the first time since the Jazz swept a home-and-home series a year ago. The Jazz have won 16 of the past 23 meetings with the Wizards.