ESPN NBA

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Amid trade rumors and finger-pointing, a funny thing happened to the Portland Trail Blazers not long ago. They started winning games and they haven't stopped -- even on the road.

Zach Randolph had 19 points and 14 rebounds and Rasheed Wallace added 16 points to lead Portland past the slumping Utah Jazz 87-73 Friday for the Blazers' sixth win in their last seven road games.

Two weeks ago, the Blazers were seven games under .500 and players were griping about Randolph's shot totals and wondering whether Wallace would be traded.

"We stopped worrying about all that other stuff and just started winning. Our focus is on the court and the difference is energy," said Derek Anderson, who had 11 points as all five Portland starters scored in double figures.

Earlier in the season, the Blazers tended to wilt if they got behind. Portland trailed until midway through the third quarter but coach Maurice Cheeks was able to rally his team.

"At halftime, Coach said we needed to pick up the energy and raise our game to another level, so that's what we went out there and did," Randolph said.

Andrei Kirilenko, who led Utah with 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots, made a 3-pointer to give Utah its biggest lead of the second half, 48-43, but Wallace scored seven points in a 15-2 run that ended on his runner in the lane for a 60-50 lead with 2:22 left in the third quarter.

"The second half, we really wanted to step up. We were attacking," said Darius Miles, who had 10 points.

Portland has won six of its last seven games overall and is tied with the Jazz for 10th place in the Western Conference.

Utah has lost four straight games to fall two games below .500 for the first time this season.

"I think we are a little bit down right now, emotionally and physically," Kirilenko said.

The Jazz have not reached 100 points in the last 15 games, and their offensive futility reached new lows against Portland's trapping zone defense.

"They felt sorry for themselves in the second half," said Utah coach Jerry Sloan, who was denied his 900th career coaching victory for the fourth straight game. "They thought something was supposed to come down out of the sky and give them a big lift. Well, that's not the way it is."

The Jazz, who shot just 34 percent, and have scored more than 22 points in a quarter only once in the past three games -- in Wednesday's loss to Chicago when the Jazz scored 25 points in the fourth quarter after the game was decided.

"When they didn't score, we got the ball out on the break and got some easy baskets," Cheeks said.

Utah closed within nine midway through the fourth quarter, but Randolph's free throws capped an 11-0 run to clinch the game.

DeShawn Stevenson scored 13 and Carlos Arroyo added 10 for Utah.

Game notes

Ruben Patterson, who sat out Wednesday's game in Phoenix with a back strain that has been bothering him for the past three weeks, played 20 minutes. ... After signing point guard Omar Cook to a 10-day contract on Tuesday, Portland acquired 6-foot-1 Eddie Gill for the rest of the season on Thursday. Both played Friday. ... The Jazz lead the league in fouls committed per game at 25.0. ... Utah's third straight sellout crowd witnessed the Jazz's third straight loss by more than 16 points.