A Jazz run-away

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Good fortune is back on their side. Confidence is restored. Shoot, they almost seem to have a swagger.

The result: The Jazz actually won one away from the Delta Center, doing so for the first time since before Christmas.

Dec. 22, at Chicago, to be precise.

Friday night's 85-79 win at Memphis not only snapped the 24-22 Jazz's six-game road losing streak, but also extended their overall win streak to three straight.

Perhaps more importantly, though, it proved their heads may truly be back where they ought to be.

"We went through a stretch," forward Michael Ruffin said, "where we were playing like it didn't matter."

Not so Friday, when Andrei Kirilenko had a team-high nine boards to go with his team-high 21 points, Carlos Arroyo and Raja Bell added 18 points apiece, and the Jazz scored a decisive 44-26 rebounding advantage.

It's the second straight game won by Utah — which out-rebounded Dallas 45-24 on Wednesday night at home — largely because it also won the battle of the boards.

"Rebounding," Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown said, "was a major issue in this game. We shot only 42 percent (from the field), so you know that there are a ton of rebounds. We had only five offensive rebounds. You can get five blindfolded."

Maybe even with hands tied behind your back.

"They got every ball they needed," added Memphis forward James Posey, who finished with a game-high 24 points, but had only six boards himself.

The reason, trite as it may sound, probably is because they seemed to want it more.

"I see everybody playing with a freshness," Kirilenko said, "and trying to win every game."

And make no mistake, the Jazz really did have to "try" to win this one.

They led at the half by seven, 39-32, after outscoring Memphis 23-8 in the second quarter. But after Posey drove for a layup with one minute and 15 seconds to go, Utah's advantage stood at only six, 83-77.

Arroyo lost his dribble on the Jazz's next possession, giving the Grizzlies a chance to make it a three-point game with less than a minute to go.

Luckily for Utah, though, Posey tried a trey that caught nothing but air, and Stromile Swift passed the rebound right past point guard Jason Williams and out-of-bounds.