Jazz rock the Sonics

The Beatles made the lyric "No. 9" into a much-repeated phrase.

ESPN.com made "nine" an unattainable number for the Utah Jazz in its preseason predictions.

"I don't think any of us really bought into it too much. I didn't even know that 'nine' was the number," said Jazz guard Raja Bell, whose number Friday night was a career-high 25 points that helped Utah to its first big-number victory margin of the season in a 98-81 win over the Seattle Sonics in the Delta Center.

It was Utah's ninth win, just a month into a season in which ESPN.com had forecast the Jazz would break the NBA's record-low for wins, Philadelphia's 9-73 mark in 1972-73.

"I didn't pay attention to that. I didn't pay any attention at the beginning of the year," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "All we can do is come and play and do the best we can and see where we are. We have a responsibility to a lot of young players who've just got to learn to get better. That's what our coaches have all committed themselves to trying to do."

Jazz backup post player Curtis Borchardt admitted he took notice of the dire prediction. "That just shows — you can't predict anything, and you can't underestimate the heart of a winner, of a champion, people who want to compete. And that's what we are. We're a group of guys who maybe haven't had an opportunity to play all that much together or are young or are rookies but are going to go out and try to do things the right way. That's resulted in a lot of good basketball for us," Borchardt said.

One thing Sloan approves of is that, "as much as anything, they seem to enjoy playing the game and playing it together."

Both teams were even younger than usual Friday. Utah center Greg Ostertag , the veteran of the team, was benched for his reaction to being taken out of Wednesday's game. Jarron Collins replaced him. And Utah was again without starting point guard Carlos Arroyo, out with a sprained ankle. Seattle was without starting forward Rashard Lewis, a five-year vet and the team's No. 2 scorer with a 21.3 average. He was attending to matters related to a brother's death, and Reggie Evans started in his stead, scoring four points.. And prized all-star February acquisition Ray Allen has been out all season following ankle surgery.

The victory left Utah with a 9-6 record, 8-1 in the Delta Center, matching last season's home start. The Jazz then lost the next three at home last season. Utah on Monday hosts New Jersey, which was atop the Atlantic Division Friday.

Bell came off the Utah bench to hit 7-for-12 from the field and 10-for-12 from the line and score one more point than teammate Matt Harpring.