Sloan set the tone as the Jazz salvaged a split on this two-game trip.

They pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Grizzlies 103-94 at FedEx Forum, rallying after an embarrassing loss to San Antonio on Friday.

"I was energized to try to win a game, that's all," Sloan said. "It wasn't me, it was all about the players."

Sloan yelled at his players to move on offense, get up on defense and run the floor. He hollered in help situations on defense and implored the Jazz to look inside on offense. Sloan even smacked the scorer's table when Kosta Koufos failed to swing a pass.

After giving up 119 points to the Spurs, Sloan watched as Memphis jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead. He switched to a zone defense barely three minutes in, but Memphis carved up the Jazz, scoring on four straight possessions including two dunks and a three-pointer.

That brought Sloan out of his seat, with his urgency unmistakable. The Jazz started trapping the pick-and-roll, double-teaming in the post and otherwise scrambling on defense, coming up with nine steals and taking a 50-43 lead into halftime.

"He did a good job of just getting after us after the beginning," C.J. Miles said. "By putting us in that trap defense, it got everybody running, everybody reacting. We were able to make a run, we were able to get ahead and then we started to execute from there."

As much as he has recently questioned his players' energy, Sloan provided a jolt all by himself Saturday. He might not be as animated for another game this season - it was especially magnified given the small crowd - but it worked against the Grizzlies.

"For somebody that don't really run, he gets up and down that sideline," Miles joked.

Playing the second game of a back-to-back set, the Jazz improved to 9-5 overall and 3-5 on the road. Mehmet Okur scored 23 points in his strongest game since returning from Turkey while Ronnie Brewer matched his career-high with 21.

"Hopefully, they learned how to compete on the road," Sloan said. "Basketball is Basketball. If you like to play, you'd compete right here in the hallway. . . . It was good to see them look like they were having some success because they're playing harder."

The Grizzlies closed within six points in the third quarter before Ronnie Price hit a jumper and Brewer stole Darrell Arthur's inbound pass and scored off a layup as Utah went on to take a 12-point lead. Okur later ran the floor for a dunk as part of a three-point play.

It wasn't until the fourth quarter, however, that the Jazz made their push, scoring 12 consecutive points. The Jazz forced a shot-clock violation in which Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni believed Andrei Kirilenko caught Kyle Lowry around the neck.

Instead, Okur dunked off a Brevin Knight pass, then connected on a three-pointer. Kirilenko hit Morris Almond (11 points) cutting for a layup and Knight dived in to strip the ball from Marc Gasol.

Almond converted two free throws after being fouled on the break.

Iavaroni was called for a technical by referee Sean Wright and the Jazz built an 89-69 lead, the memories of their loss to San Antonio on the way to being forgotten.

"For some reason, we didn't compete last night," Okur said, "and we had a tough loss, but we bounced back tonight and everybody stepped up and we were able to win the ballgame."

rsiler@sltrib.com

* IN SHORT: The Jazz start slowly but pull away in the fourth quarter to salvage a split on their two-game trip.

* KEY MOMENT: Ronnie Brewer steals an inbound pass and hits a layup to make it a 10-point game in the third quarter.

* KEY STAT: The Jazz come up with 15 steals against the Grizzlies, only four shy of the franchise record.