NEW ORLEANS — It wasn't long ago that coach Jerry Sloan glanced at the map, saw where his Jazz were going and shuddered over the crash course.

"We were headed in the wrong direction," he said.

It was early on New Year's Eve, Utah was about finish out a 5-11 December and Sloan's club needed to win its final game of 2007 just to head into '08 above .500.

And they did, beating Portland at EnergySolutions Arena to start a run of what is now — as they take a few days off for this weekend's NBA All-Star Game break — 18-3.

"We turned it up," power forward Carlos Boozer said in looking at what is now the prospect of a second straight playoff appearance. "We had to, to have a chance."

"The most important thing," Sloan added, "is they stayed together as a group of guys in that stretch, and then they've gotten back to playing and winning some games."

As a result, several players from Utah arrive here on quite a high.

"It's a great run we've had," point guard Deron Williams said. "Hopefully, we can keep the confidence that we have right now and just keep playing the way we are after the break."

Playing, in other words, as if they're on top of the world.

And why not feel so good about things?

Having won 12 of their last 13 games, the Jazz lead the NBA's Northwest Division.

They hold down a Western Conference playoff position, something that could not be said when things were especially ugly around Christmas time.

And they will be represented here this weekend at the home of Bourbon Street, the French Quarter and America's best beignet maker — Cafe' Du Monde — by a whopping six players, a count topped by no other NBA organization.

"We have a lot of talent on this team," Boozer said, "and we'll be able to showcase it down in New Orleans."

Boozer takes center stage as the Jazz's lone representative in Sunday's All-Star Game.

Before he does, starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer and backup power forward Paul Millsap plan to take part in tonight's Rookie-Sophomore Challenge Game, Utah Flash-assigned rookies Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko will play in Saturday's NBA Development League All-Star Game and Williams will take part in a Saturday night skills competition.

"It's gonna be a fun time," Williams said.

"I think people," he added, "are starting to recognize our success — not just this year, but for the past year."

They are, not that that has Sloan resting easy as his 34-19 team — participants in last season's NBA Western Conference finals — enjoys the much-needed break.

"You hate to see guys take off, when you don't see them for a week, because a lot of them will go work out, (but) some of them won't," Sloan said. "Then you get ... injuries.

"You can't do anything about what they're doing when they're away, but you're always concerned about that," the Jazz coach added. "You know, a team that's won some games — you'd like to see them stay healthy and be fortunate enough to play well the rest of the season. But that's why coaches end up waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com