Sonics perfect cure for ailing Jazz

Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was almost apologetic to Seattle following his team's 96-75 victory in EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday night that broke a six-game losing streak, the team's longest since March 2005. It was Utah's first win since Dec. 3.

The Sonics (7-18) were on the final game of a five-game road trip, playing a conference opponent, and they were tired, Sloan observed. "I don't think that's quite fair," Sloan said of the Sonics' schedule. Kevin Durant, the No. 2 pick of last June's draft, had just six points, tying his career low. Wally Szcerbiak took up some of the slack with 24 points.

"We were playing against a tired team. We should have gotten something out of it," Sloan said.

But now the 14-11 Jazz are facing a four-game eastern road swing, and they most certainly needed a game in which they could build a little self esteem by winning.

"We got that monkey off our back. It feels really good," said Carlos Boozer. "Everybody did a great job of contributing."

"When you've lost six games in a row," Sloan noted, "anything that you can come up with is a great win for us to hopefully get back on track, get a little confidence in trying to finish a game."

The Jazz broke their streak by, of all things, making 80 percent of their free throws after missed free throws contributed to Jazz losses several times in the past week — and by playing some defense, perhaps the biggest culprit during the losing streak. "Where has that been?" Sloan said. "We need that all the time."

Getting 17 deflections in the second quarter alone helped them come from as many as 10 down in the first quarter, and 15 steals and six blocked shots helped them pull ahead by 20 and keep a lead through the final 29 minutes. "We haven't been able to finish," Sloan noted of the games in the losing streak.

Ronnie Brewer had five steals and Paul Millsap four, while Andrei Kirilenko had five blocked shots.

"We got guys active," said Boozer, who had 21 points and 16 rebounds plus five assists and two steals (and four turnovers). "Any time you have guys really active on defense, you've got a chance to get some easy layups and fast-break points, and it opened up the floor for us."

All of that defense got Utah into some early offense, and that and some decent passing and cutting early in the shot clock often kept Seattle from setting up in a zone defense — which Portland discovered twice in the past week could be the Jazz's undoing.