San Antonio » For the record, the Jazz popped no champagne corks and smoked no victory cigars in their locker room. They made no plans for a celebratory lap along the River Walk or a stop at the Alamo for a team picture on their way to the airport.

But Jazz coach Jerry Sloan couldn't help but crack one joke as his team's 20-game, decade-long losing streak in San Antonio came to an end Thursday: At least his epitaph won't have to mention never having won a game at AT&T Center.

"Well, it was nice from my standpoint to get a win in this building before I die," Sloan said after the Jazz's 90-83 triumph. "That's about the most rewarding thing. But our guys, I thought, hung in there pretty well and had to play pretty decent to win."

With Carlos Boozer scoring 10 of his 18 points in the final 3:58, the Jazz left San Antonio with a victory for the first time since Feb. 28, 1999, a span of 20 regular-season losses plus another three in the 2007 Western Conference finals.

Sloan won 492 games in between Jazz victories in San Antonio. They had been 0-13 all-time at AT&T Center (0-16 counting the playoffs). Needless to say, the fact that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili sat out for the Spurs mattered little to the Jazz.

"You can tell in our locker room that we accomplished something today," Paul Millsap said.

The Jazz's streak of futility in San Antonio was rivaled only by Golden State's current 22-game road losing streak to the Spurs as well as Milwaukee's 21-game losing streak in Phoenix.

Almost exactly a year ago, the Jazz came to San Antonio in similar circumstances, with the Spurs missing Parker and Ginobili. They were blown away 119-94 as Roger Mason hit seven three-pointers on the way to 29 points and George Hill had 23 off the bench.

Things couldn't have been more different this time. The Jazz (6-6) own their first winning streak of the season, heading into a six-game homestand that runs through Dec. 4. They won the fourth quarter 30-23, making their final push behind Boozer.

"We did all the right things down the stretch, which is something we've struggled with in this building," said Deron Williams, who called out unnamed teammates for making vacation plans here after the Jazz were eliminated in the 2007 conference finals.

"We've had some close games here. We've had some games where we've had a chance to win, but we could never put them away, we could never do the right things to win. That's what we did tonight. I still want to beat them when they're not shorthanded."

Boozer went into the fourth quarter having gone 3-for-12, then missed two layups and committed an offensive foul. But he got going after hitting a turnaround jumper in the lane to give the Jazz a 78-74 lead inside of four minutes to play.

Williams then worked a textbook pick-and-roll with Boozer, sliding a pass to the former All-Star as Tim Duncan opted to stay with Williams. Boozer pounded in a layup as part of a three-point play with Antonio McDyess arriving late to help.

After that, Boozer grabbed a key offensive rebound as Andrei Kirilenko missed a three-pointer, then hit a foul-line jumper after Ronnie Brewer passed on his own shot and moved the ball to Boozer.

The Spurs still were within a point, 84-83, after two Duncan free throws with 1:25 left, but the Jazz answered with Boozer and Williams working a give-and-go, resulting in another three-point play for Boozer as the Jazz's bench erupted.

"He's getting back to the old Booz before he was hurt," Williams said. "It's big. We just kept going to him, which is definitely going to help his confidence. He's playing great for us right now."

Boozer finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds while Williams had 21 points and 10 assists, hitting two three-pointers to give the Jazz a 10-point lead in the third quarter that they promptly gave back as he went to the bench.

The Jazz opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back three-point plays by Kirilenko and Millsap and built a 72-67 lead with Duncan on the bench. Without Parker and Ginobili, the Spurs started Hill, Keith Bogans and Theo Ratliff and went 4-for-20 from three-point range.

For the first time in years, though, the Jazz can look forward to their next game to San Antonio -- Jan. 10 -- and the end of questions about the streak.

"For us to get a win here, it means a lot for us, and our organization and for our confidence," Boozer said.

rsiler@sltrib.com