The Jazz close their 1989-90 exhibition schedule tonight against Phoenix in the Huntsman Center, giving Coach Jerry Sloan one last chance to experiment. Sunday night in Gill Coliseum, Sloan gave his young players their longest looks of the preseason.

With Karl Malone and John Stockton on the bench again, the Jazz (3-3) managed only 14 points in the fourth quarter of a 100-91 loss to Portland. The other Jazzmen had rallied to beat Boston Friday while Malone and Stockton watched, but this time was different.Second-year forward Mark Bryant scored nine of his 13 points in the quarter as the Trail Blazers pulled away against a Jazz lineup that included rookies Eric Johnson, Joe Hillman and Raymond Brown and second-year players Eric Leckner and Jose Ortiz. Veterans Thurl Bailey and Mike Brown played earlier in the quarter for the Jazz, but Sloan stuck to his plan of playing Ortiz extra minutes in his former surroundings at Oregon State and evaluating Johnson and Hillman in their battle for the backup point-guard job with Jim Les. After playing the fourth quarter against Boston, Les stayed on the bench Sunday.

The Jazz still have 14 players, and Sloan's final 12-man roster must be completed by Thursday night, in advance of Friday's regular-season opener against Denver in the Salt Palace. Usually, the Jazz make their final cuts by Tuesday night of the final week, giving the players 48 hours to clear waivers before the deadline.

The Jazz held an edge over Portland for most of the game, when both teams' regulars were on the floor. During a third-quarter stretch when Portland's Clyde Drexler was ejected with two technical fouls, the Jazz played some of their best basketball. They built a 54-52 halftime edge to 10 points, only to have the lead shrink to 77-76 entering the fourth quarter after Stockton left the game.

The Blazers, playing mostly second-teamers themselves, charged ahead behind Bryant and rookie forward Cliff Robinson in the final period to complete their preseason at 6-1. They'd also defeated the Jazz 111-103 in Ogden last week.

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Rookie guard Byron Irvin and veteran guard Danny Young joined Bryant with 13 points each and Drexler added 12 for the Blazers. Malone scored 10 of his 14 in the third quarter and Bobby Hansen, Stockton and Ortiz had 10 each for the Jazz. Ortiz had worked only 21 total minutes in the preseason before Sunday, but was productive offensively in the second and fourth quarters.

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