The Jazz continue to keep their slim playoff hopes intact.
Utah beat the Western Conference's worst team, the Portland Trail Blazers, 110-93 Saturday night at the Delta Center.
The Jazz won Saturday's game on exceptional play from forward Matt Harpring, who had 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field, and great teamwork on the offensive end.
The Jazz finished with 26 assists, 22 of those coming in the first and third quarters with point guard Deron Williams leading the way with seven.
"If we pass the ball, which we did," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said, "we can get easy baskets. We got a lot of layups."
After the Jazz's recent starting-lineup changes, there were doubts as the fivesome of Harpring, Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer started out losing four of six games.
But the Jazz have had recent success with their new big lineup, winning five times in the last seven games.
This big lineup creates mismatches for Harpring and Kirilenko.
The two of them accounted Saturday for nearly half of the points of the Jazz, who broke the century mark for just the 15th time this season.
The Jazz, who have averaged a little over 94 points a game this season, have gone on a recent scoring tear, putting up more than 100 points five times in their last seven games.
The Jazz were up by as many as 10 points in the second half, but the Blazers got within three with a pair of free throws from Darius Miles. But Harpring had an answer on the other end, where he hit a 3-pointer with just four seconds left.
The Jazz came out after halftime playing their best defense of the game, giving up just 10 points in nearly 10 minutes. Kirilenko had a lot to do with that, finishing with seven blocks on the night.
"I want to beat Mark Eaton," Kirilenko said of the Jazz's top career shot-blocker. "I need 244 blocks more for six more games. That's doable."
The Jazz would go up 16 with 3:09 left on a Boozer dunk, and Portland would not get closer than seven.
The Jazz, who swept Portland for the first time since the 1988-89 season, still are hopeful for the playoffs.
"We're still alive, and that's the important thing," Sloan said. "And the games mean something. It's not like you just throw it out there and you don't care whether you win or lose."
The Jazz, who are 2 1/2 games behind the Kings and Lakers for the final playoff spot in the West, have to treat every game as a must-win.
"We're still alive," Harpring said. "We've won two in a row. You never know what can happen. We've got a winning streak here. Maybe the Lakers lose, Sacramento loses. We're still alive."
Ben Olsen, winner of the Deseret Morning News' Cover a Game contest, is a sophomore at Timpanogos High School in Orem. He plays on the T-Wolves' golf team.