Sloan, however, said he is looking forward to spending some time with his daughter, who lives in suburban Chicago.

ROAD WOES: Of the nine Western Conference playoff contenders, only the Jazz, Mavericks and Nuggets have losing records on the road. Utah could sweep the four games on their current trip and still not be at .500, since the Jazz are currently 14-19 outside of EnergySolutions Arena.

But Utah has won two straight on the road, including a big come-from-behind victory at Phoenix on Friday.

"We've been playing better on the road of late and we need to continue doing that," said Jazz forward Carlos Boozer. "Obviously, if we are going to win a championship, we are going to have to win some games on the road, so this is a good test for us."

Williams feels playing well in the first quarter of games will be a key.

"We can't have any slow starts," Williams said. "It's tough on the road to get behind and have to come back time after time. We have to be the aggressor and set the tone early.

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com