In a Western Conference race where 3? games separate second-place San Antonio and eighth-place Dallas -- in a Northwest Division race where Denver, Portland and Utah are noses apart at the top of the stretch -- the Jazz and Nuggets play a game of oversized proportions tonight.

"It's a huge game," said Carlos Boozer. "If we can win this game, we'll climb the ladder a little bit and be right where we want to be."

Boozer claims his collegiate background at Duke gave him an education into what constitutes a bulked-up Basketball game.

Utah-Denver fits his criteria.

"This is what it's all about," Boozer said. "In college, you've got Duke-North Carolina. Then you get to the NBA and -- for us, right now -- Denver is our biggest rival...

"If you're talking about the playoffs, it's probably Houston, based on the last couple of years. But in the regular season, it's Denver. They're the team we've been fighting every year."

Asked if the size of this game makes it exciting or nerve-racking for those involved, Boozer laughed and said, "Hey, this is what we play the game for -- to play the best teams and see how we fare against them."

Andrei Kirilenko agrees.

"It is a fun game because it is [an] important game," he said. "Every point will be important. Every point, we will be fighting for. It will be a very exciting game. Intense."

For the Jazz, their third meeting of the season with Denver is a chance to maintain a forward position in a race that seemed hopelessly lost just a month ago.

At that point, Utah was without Boozer and Kirilenko because of injuries. It languished six games behind the front-running Nuggets, who looked unbeatable a 117-97 win over the Jazz in Denver.

All along, however, coach Jerry Sloan believed his team was capable of challenging the best in the West. Now, thanks to a nine-game winning streak, that's where Utah finds itself with 21 games left in the season.

"I'll be honest," Sloan said. "I've always felt this team would be a good team. I said that at the beginning of the year, if we stayed healthy."

The Jazz are finally healthy, with Kirilenko recovered from midseason ankle surgery and Boozer back after a 44-game absence because of knee surgery.

Still, the Nuggets are far more formidable than they have been the last two seasons, when Utah ran off with the division title.

The reason for Denver's improvement?

That's easy: Chauncey Billups.

An All-Star point guard who was acquired in November for Allen Iverson, Billups is just what the Nuggets needed to be transformed from a talented-but-inconsistent team to one that is steady as a rock.

"He gives them a direction to what they're doing," Sloan said. "They seem to be running a few more plays. They're a little bit more in control, maybe, because of his ability and the way he plays."

When Billups is mentioned, Kirilenko shakes his head and says, "That trade for Chauncey, oh boy, that really helped them because he is well-known for being an organized point guard. He doesn't take crazy shots -- unnecessary shots. He can decide a game on his own, too, so I think this is a great trade for Denver."

luhm@sltrib.com