SALT LAKE CITY - It was the recipe for a blowout.

Here was Utah, loser of three straight at home and five of six and badly in need of a victory. And in came Phoenix, playing without injured Danny Manning and Hot Rod Williams and on the second game of a two-night, two-game road swing.

The result: Utah 103, Phoenix 79.

''Phoenix didn't look like they had a lot tonight, but this game was really good for our psyche,'' said Jeff Hornacek, who scored 12 points and handed out eight assists and broke out of a 3-point shooting slump by making two of his three attempts.

''We've been struggling a bit lately,'' he said. ''I don't think we played great tonight, but somehow, in these late five games, we've got to get our game tuned back up to the way we're capable of playing.''

Karl Malone led Utah with 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Suns lost their third in four games.

Michael Finley led the Suns with 15 points, Kevin Johnson added 14 and Charles Barkley had 12 in 29 minutes. Phoenix made just 30-of-78 shots (38.5 percent) and was outrebounded 57-45.

''It was terrible; I think we're a tired team and have been for a week or so,'' said Johnson, who was 3-of-9 from the field. ''They took it to us right from the start of the game. We knew they have been struggling and knew that they were going to be hungry. They played well and had a great team performance, the kind of game you want to have going into the playoffs.''

The Jazz remained four games back of Midwest Division leader San Antonio and 3 1/2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers, who are fourth in the Western Conference race.

Phoenix dropped 1 1/2 games behind Portland for the sixth spot in the Western Conference.

Utah jumped to a 33-16 lead after an 18-4 run late in the first quarter and early in the second. Malone had 10 in the run. A 9-2 run in the final 2:48 of the half gave the Jazz a 55-35 advantage at halftime.

Phoenix came as close as 59-48 after an 11-0 run, led by Barkley with eight. But Utah scored the next five points and led 75-61 at the end of the third quarter.

The Jazz outscored the Suns 10-4 to start the fourth quarter to lead 85-65. The Suns got no closer than 18 thereafter.

''We had a ton of assists tonight,'' said Adam Keefe, who contributed to a 47-point bench performance. The Jazz had 33 assists to the Suns' 20, with John Stockton getting 11 and Hornacek handing out 8. ''That's always a good sign of how we're playing."