Utah Jazz: Gasol-less Lakers stand in way of home win-streak record

John Stockton and Karl Malone's teams never did it. Adrian Dantley and Darrell Griffith's teams never did it.

Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and the current Utah Jazz team have the opportunity tonight — starting at 8:30, when the Los Angeles Lakers invade EnergySolutions Arena for a national TNT broadcast — to set a franchise record.

As Boozer says, that's not something that comes along every day for Jazz players of the post-Malone/Stockton era.

"It's something that hasn't been done here before, and any time you get a chance to go into the record books in Utah — which is tough to do with the success they've had here before — you want to take advantage of it," said Boozer, who also admitted, "Oh, we're excited" over the chance to win a 20th straight home game and break the thrice-hit franchise mark of 19.

The 1989-90 Jazz of Stockton, Malone, Thurl Bailey, Mark Eaton, Griffith, Blue Edwards and Bobby Hansen won 19 straight in the Salt Palace under the old Jazz note logo from Dec. 13 to March 3.

And the 1995-96 Jazz of Malone, Stockton, Jeff Hornacek, Chris Morris, David Benoit, Antoine Carr and Felton Spencer won 19 in a row in what was then the Delta Center, in the last season of the original-logo jerseys, from Jan. 19 to March 29.

And the current Utah team of Williams, Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, Ronnie Brewer, Matt Harpring, Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver tied the 19-straight mark with its 96-79 victory Monday over Toronto in ESA.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, of course, has a different approach than Boozer about the possibility of breaking the franchise record.

"I'm not into breaking records, just winning," Sloan said before Wednesday's Jazz practice.

Williams is in Sloan's camp on that. "My focus is always the same, getting a victory. That's the most important thing," said the point guard.

If the 45-24 Jazz can somehow keep up their winning ways tonight against Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, last season's Utah teammate Derek Fisher and a 46-21 Laker club that won Tuesday at Dallas without injured forward Pau Gasol to break a two-game losing streak, Sloan says it won't necessarily validate to him this group of Jazzmen over any previous Jazz team.

"I don't try to compare that (Stockton/Malone) team to this team," he said. "This is a different group of guys. It's not even the same personalities.