Przybilla

does a bit of

everything

JOE FREEMAN

Roughly two weeks ago, after the Trail Blazers passed the midway point of the season, coach Nate McMillan said one thing was lacking from the expanding resume of his resurgent team: A hot streak.

The Blazers might be on the verge of crossing that off their list.

"I talked to them (Saturday) morning about getting hot and I think we're warm," McMillan said, smiling. "I told them we were warm. And I think we're warmer now."

The rise in temperature came thanks to the old-fashioned, back-alley whoopin' the Blazers administered to the Utah Jazz on Saturday night, when they registered a 122-108 victory before a Rose Garden crowd of 20,593 --the 50th consecutive sellout.

In one of the most important and impressive performances of the season, the Blazers led by as many as 22 points, had all 12 players score, shot 55.8 percent from the field and scored the most points against the Jazz since they won 122-99 in March 1994. It was the Blazers' fourth consecutive win and ninth in 12 games.

And the byproduct was a bevy of positives: The Blazers (29-17) moved into a tie for fourth place in the Western Conference standings with New Orleans (28-16) --which they play Monday --and increased their Northwest Division lead over the Jazz to six games. It also helped the Blazer move to within 11/2 games of first-place Denver.

Perhaps the most impressive part was that it came against the Jazz (26-22), a division rival that had won three of four meetings against the Blazers, including two games earlier this season.

"This is huge," center Joel Przybilla said. "We've been beating teams that are sub-.500 . . . but Utah came in tonight and we knew they were going to come after us. We're very confident right now. We just have to keep getting better."

You couldn't ask for a much better performance than the one the Blazers delivered on Saturday night. They made 7 of their first 8 field-goal attempts to set a dominant tone, and only increased their intensity from there. They were especially impressive in the third quarter, when they made their first eight shots to gain a 69-55 advantage. And that came before a 12-2 run that put them up 84-64.

Brandon Roy, in his first game since being named an All-Star, had his usual stellar effort, finishing with 30 points and five assists. But the performance, which marked the seventh time he has scored 30 or more points in a game this season, was almost lost in what ended up being a complete team effort.

If Sergio Rodriguez, who finished with nine points and seven assists, wasn't wowing the crowd with alley-oop lobs or behind-the-back passes, Rudy Fernandez was swishing three-pointers and tossing pretty bounce passes. If Nicolas Batum wasn't swishing three-pointers --he had a career-high four which contributed to his 16 points --Przybilla was doing a little bit of everything.

The Blazers' backup center dove for loose balls, drew charges and had a season-high 14 points and 17 rebounds. His effort was particularly important because Greg Oden, who had played so well in the previous five games, was plagued by foul trouble and played just 11 minutes.

"What I've been talking about is our guys not sitting on the sidelines and assuming that this guy is playing well, so it's my night off," McMillan said. "Bring it! Bring it! Keep the pressure. We need everyone to play well, scrap and hustle. And Joel did that tonight. Greg was in foul trouble and Joel was right there ready to cover for him and we are going to need that.

Which leads back to whether or not the Blazers are warm, hot or boiling. Roy says we'll find out this week, when the team has a three-game trip against New Orleans, Dallas and Oklahoma City.

"We're going to be warm until we beat a team like New Orleans on the road or until we beat a team like Dallas on the road," Roy said. "That's our next step. So I don't really know how to judge warm and hot but we have a chance to do something big on Monday . . . and we have to be better than we were tonight if we want to go into New Orleans and win that game."

Notes:

The Blazers were solid inside and out: They scored 56 points in the paint and made 10 of 20 three-pointers. . . . Portland scored a season-high 70 points in the second half. . . . Deron Williams scored 35 points for Utah.

Joe Freeman: 503-294-5183;

joefreeman@news.oregonian.com

To read his Behind the Beat blog,

go to http://blog.oregonlive.com/

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