He started the third quarter with Bell in at shooting guard over rookie Sasha Pavlovic, who was having a hard time with veteran Derek Anderson (six assists, five points and four rebounds at halftime), and ex-starter Michael Ruffin back at power forward over vet Tom Gugliotta, who had a tough time with youngster Zach Randolph (11 points before the break).

"I thought Raja was playing a lot harder," Sloan said of the Bell-for-Pavlovic switch. "We needed somebody who was gonna compete, not just shake their head if something went wrong."

The changes, though, didn't do the Jazz much good.

Anderson pushed his point total to 11 by the end of the third quarter, and pulled down three more boards in the period. Randolph kicked his scoring to 19 en route to a game-high 23. And Portland increased its half eight-point advantage to 15 at 71-56 going into the fourth.

Jazz All-Star Andrei Kirilenko, meanwhile, struggled to 10 points after 1-of-11 first-half shooting.

Kirilenko, though, wasn't Sloan's biggest headache.

Ostertag, trying to fire up teammates by questioning aloud if they really want to make the playoffs, was yanked shortly after he engaged in a brief shouting match with Sloan during a 20-second timeout late in the half.

Sloan was upset because the Jazz allowed Blazers center Theo Ratliff to come down with a rebound — while resting flat on his back.

Ostertag did return in the third quarter. Still, Sloan was not amused.

"Greg's gonna start coaching for us," the Jazz coach said. "I'm gonna give him an opportunity to coach the team. I need all the help I can get.

"You can go in there and ask him what he's gonna do next game, and who's gonna play, and who's gonna substitute for us, and, if need be, he can go talk to (owner) Larry (H. Miller) to see if there's anything he needs to figure out what we can do to get us on the right track.

"What I'm doing is not working, so it's important he gives them (teammates) his impression of what they need to do," added Sloan, quickly turning from sarcastic to dead-serious. "I'm tired of his ability to step up and always question what I do when there's a confrontation out there."

NOTES: The Jazz played Saturday for a second straight time without reserve swingman Gordan Giricek, who is expected to be back Monday night vs. the Los Angeles Lakers after traveling to Orlando to be with his wife for the birth of their first child, a girl named Lara . . . Bell's 21 points were a team-high . . . Ostertag added a game-high 13 rebounds.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com