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Jazz hoping for road success at Blazers

Mar 31, 2009 - 5:27 AM By Brett Huston Stats Writer

Utah (46-27) at Portland (46-27), 10:00 p.m. EDT

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- The Utah Jazz haven't beaten one of their fellow Western Conference playoff contenders on the road this season. If they have any intention of winning the Northwest Division, that drought will have to end in a hurry.

The Jazz have six games remaining against above-.500 opponents and they're all on the road, a devastating stretch run that begins Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, one of two teams vying with Utah for the division title.

Utah has gone 20-5 since the beginning of February, the best record in the West in that span. Fourteen of those wins, however, have come at home, where the Jazz are 32-6.

The six road victories have come against opponents that have no hope of making the playoffs, and that's been essentially the only type of team Utah has been able to beat away from home. The Jazz are 0-14 on the road against opponents with a winning record since a win at Philadelphia on Nov. 11, and they're 0-9 against above-.500 teams from the West.

It isn't about to get any easier for Utah, either. The Jazz still have games left at New Orleans, Dallas, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers after a trip Thursday to face Denver - the team both Utah and Portland is chasing in the Northwest.

First, though, is a trip to the Rose Garden, where the Trail Blazers (46-27) are 15-2 in their last 17 home games. Their latest win was one of their most impressive defensive performances in years, as they outrebounded Memphis by 22 on Saturday en route to an 86-66 victory.

The 66 points were the fewest Portland had allowed since an 80-66 win on March 12, 2005, also against the Grizzlies.

"We wanted to lean on them all night," coach Nate McMillan said. "We wanted to make them shoot from the top and keep them out of the paint, where they could get easier shots. I think it was one of our better defensive efforts."

The Trail Blazers didn't play great defense the first time Utah visited the Rose Garden, as Deron Williams had a season-high 35 points and the Jazz shot 54.4 percent. Utah, though, couldn't defend at all - Brandon Roy had 30 points to lead six Blazers in double figures in Portland's 122-108 win on Jan. 31, their fifth straight in the series at home.

The Jazz have found life against the Blazers much easier in Salt Lake City. Utah has won both home meetings with Portland behind 24.5 points per game from center Mehmet Okur.

"They're a physical team and they've been playing good basketball," McMillan told the Blazers' official Web site. "(Tuesday) night for us, the approach will be the same. We need to establish our defense. And offensively, keep up the good ball movement and keep the pressure on their defense."

While Portland had Sunday and Monday off in preparation for its showdown with Utah, the Jazz hosted the New York Knicks on Monday.

For a while it seemed as if they were looking ahead to Tuesday's game, losing a 24-point lead and eventually falling behind by one in the fourth quarter. But Williams took over, and his 24 points and 13 assists helped Utah escape with a 112-104 victory, its 15th straight at home.

"We played really well at times and we played really poorly at times," said Kyle Korver, who had 16 points. "We can't have those lapses like we did."

Utah's front line of Carlos Boozer and Okur should have its hands full with Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge, who's averaged 23.7 points and 10.3 rebounds in his previous three games.

Aldridge has averaged 22.0 points in his last five games against the Jazz, including a career-high 36 in a 111-101 loss at Utah on Dec. 31, 2007.