SALT LAKE CITY — Even as the Jazz pulled their season record to 3-3 with a 12-point win over Milwaukee on Tuesday, there was the nagging possibility that this might be as good as it gets. Home, hearth, family, friends, victory.

It’s a nice deal. Too bad for them it can’t last forever.

There’s always the dreaded road ahead.

Maybe they should start working on a plan for that, too. It will be here, sooner than they want.

You think life is hard at home? Comparatively, it’s a piece of cake — and that’s an intended metaphor. Finding good chocolate cake in a strange town isn’t easy. Neither is winning.

The Jazz played their third home game of the season, holding off the paper-thin Bucks. That makes them perfect at home and perfectly awful on the road. Tuesday was the second of 12 games this month at EnergySolutions Arena.

On the bright side for the Jazz, that means they can unpack — a rarity in professional basketball. The only times they’ll have to get on a plane in January is for quick trips to Golden State and Denver, plus a visit to Dallas. Otherwise, they’re as home-bound as a goldfish.

But then comes February: nine road trips in 15 games, and March with 12 of 19 on the road.

In other words, they’ll want to win almost every game this month, in order to avert disaster later.

“Absolutely, especially if you’re a young ballclub,” said Jazz coach Ty Corbin.

Most disconcerting to the Jazz is the fact they are in fact young, which doesn’t play to their advantage. Logic would dictate the road favors youth. They have fresh legs and strong arms. But almost inevitably the youngest teams have problems when they hit the highway.

“They struggle with it,” Corbin said.

Teams don’t get good until they learn to win on the road. The Jazz didn’t have a winning record on the road until 1994-95, just about they time they got serious about going to the NBA finals. By that time John Stockton and Karl Malone were into their early 30s and had been in the league a decade.

If ever the Jazz were to have a hand-delivered gift, Tuesday would have been it. They were at ESA, where had already established a modest winning pattern. Milwaukee guard Beno Udrih was out with a bad shoulder. Starting guard Mike Dunleavy also sat out with a groin injury. Center Andrew Bogut was absent so he could attend to what his coach called a “personal matter.”

The Jazz’s problems so far this year have ranged from defense to shooting to spacing, and points beyond. Corbin continues to experiment with his young lineup. Never mind a large number of Bucks were on MIA list. The Jazz need wins, anywhere they can pick them up.

SALT LAKE CITY — As bad as they’ve played at times, it might come as a surprise that the Utah Jazz can even their record with a win tonight.

One guy that won’t get in their way: 7-foot Andrew Bogut .

The Milwaukee Bucks center and former University of Utah star is not with the team and won’t play tonight because of personal matters.

Mike Dunleavy (groin pain) and Ben Udrih (left shoulder pain) will also miss the Jazz-Bucks game.

“We have an opportunity to improve our record to 3-3 tonight, but it’s not going to be easy,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said after his team’s morning shootaround. “Milwaukee’s a good ball club. We’re going to have to compete against them as if they’re coming in here to win.”

Both the Jazz (2-3) and Bucks (2-2) are coming off of games Monday night. Milwaukee lost in Denver 91-86, and Utah edged New Orleans 94-90 at EnergySolutions Arena.

That location tidbit makes tonight’s showdown an anomaly. This is the first back-to-back set with two home games for the Jazz since Nov. 2008.

This was Utah fans’ only chance to catch an up-close-and-person glimpse of the former Ute standout, who is averaging 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds this season.

Earlier today, Corbin credited Bogut for being a solid passer with strong low-post moves.

“He’s a versatile big guy who’s continued to get better and learned this game,” Corbin said.

This game (7 p.m. MT tipoff, ROOT Sports) will conclude a six-games-in-eight-nights beginning of the season for the Jazz. It’s also the second of three home games Utah has this week and one of 12 contests at ESA in January for the young team.

Utah will go with the same starters as Monday: Devin Harris, Raja Bell, Gordon Hayward, Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson.

Email: jody@desnews.com Twitter: DJJazzyJody

Derrick Favors scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Friday night, leading the Utah Jazz to a 102-99 victory over Philadelphia in their home opener at Energy Solutions Arena.

Gordon Hayward’s 15-foot jumper with 30.2 seconds left gave the Jazz a 101-97 lead and Utah held on for its first victory of the season.

The Jazz played without center Al Jefferson, who was scratched before tipoff because of an inflamed right ankle.

The First: Sixers 29, Jazz 22

The Jazz open with more defensive energy than they exhibited in a 117-100 loss at Denver on Wednesday night. Still, Elton Brand scores seven quick points and the Sixers close on a 12-4 run.

The Second: Jazz 53, Sixers 51

Philadelphia builds a 13-point lead but, behind the aggressive play of Devin Harris, Paul Millsap and Gordon Hayward, the Jazz rally. Harris earns six trips to the foul line in the final four minutes.

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The Third: Sixers 73, Jazz 71

Hayward’s jump shot and Millsap’s free throw give Utah a 56-51 lead. But the 76ers convert four of their next five possessions during a 9-0 run, preventing the Jazz from building more momentum.

The fourth: Jazz 102, Sixers 99

Earl Watson scores five points during a 14-4 run that gives the Jazz their biggest lead in any game this season, 85-77. Utah struggles mightily offensively down the stretch but never trails again.

Follow the in-game live chat at sltrib.com/sports

Twitter: @tribjazz, @sluhm

Jazz-Philadelphia matchup box

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SALT LAKE CITY — Paul Millsap is getting his wish. He’s an NBA starter once again.

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin changed his starting rotation for tonight’s home-opening game against the Philadelphia 76ers, inserting last year’s starting power forward back into the first five while putting Derrick Favors in a reserve role.

Favors has gotten off to a rough start this season after getting into early foul trouble in both blowout losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets. He’s averaging 5.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg.

Millsap, meanwhile, has been the Jazz’s most consistent player. The sixth-year player is leading the team with 15.5 points per game and has averaged eight rebounds.

“(Favors) gets a chance to watch a little bit coming off the bench and relax a little bit, I hope, and be ready to come in the game,” Corbin said. “Paul is used to starting so he’ll know how to handle the anxiety and just go out and play and play aggressively, and not worry about not fouling.”

The other four starters will remain the same, with Devin Harris (point guard), Raja Bell (shooting guard), Gordon Hayward (small forward) and Al Jefferson (center).

The Jazz spent Thursday watching film and dissecting what went wrong (and right) on both offense and defense in the two losses in which they lost by an average of 21 points.

One thing, in particular, stood out about the Jazz’s performances.

“I don’t think we came out with the kind of effort we had in training camp,” Corbin said. “I don’t know if (it was due to) fatigue and anxiety from starting up or just the whole short training camp and the first couple of games.”

Corbin is hopeful Thursday’s viewing and discussion will pay off as the Jazz try to get their first win of 2011-12 tonight against a 1-1 Sixers squad.

“I thought it was a good exercise. It was a good film session,” Corbin said. “It was a good meeting we had. We’re looking forward to a big effort tonight.”

Tipoff is at 7 p.m. MT. The game will be televised live on ROOT Sports.

Email: jody@desnews.com Twitter: DJJazzJody

SALT LAKE CITY — EnergySolutions Arena may have never looked or sounded as good as it will Friday night for the Utah Jazz.

If a team was ever in need of a home-crowd boost, it’s this ragtag collection that has suffered back-to-back beatdowns.

Their aim was so off in Los Angeles, they might not have been able to point in the direction of a B-list actor at Staples Center.

Their ability to stop someone was so poor in Denver, Tim Tebow might have been able to throw for 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns on them if they wore pads.

If that sounds overly harsh, give another glance at the final scores: Lakers 96, Jazz 71 and Nuggets 117, Utah 100.

Utah players don’t just need to find an elusive identity, consistency, properly functioning combinations, defensive rotations, team chemistry and a commitment to put forth enough effort to win.

Their juiceless battery could use a jumpstart from a crowd that’s done that so many times over the past three decades.

“We’re still trying to figure it out. Hopefully in the next few days we’ll figure it out, especially with our young group,” Jazz sixth man Paul Millsap said after Wednesday’s game. “I think home court advantage will help us, give us a little energy, let us get out and run a bit.”

Heck, maybe even win a game — or at least have a chance to win one.

In reality, there’s only so much of an edge 19,911 fans can give a team. There is a reason why one group pays to get in, while the other much smaller (in numbers) and more talented group gets paid to be there.

Ultimately, it’s up to Jazz players and coaches to get their acts together and play up to their potential.

“We’ll see what type of team we are the next couple of games,” second-year Jazz small forward Gordon Hayward said.

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin took extra time after Wednesday’s loss to emphasize to his entire team — players, staff and himself — that everybody is responsible to do his part.

“They have to step up and do it. We have to as a coaching staff and myself. We have to lead them through it,” Corbin said. “It’s a young bunch of guys for the most part. We’ve got to grow together.”

The second-year coach believes that will happen, that player development and victories can happen simultaneously.

“I’m not quitting on the guys, and I don’t think they’ll quit on me. But we’ve got to get things figured out,” Corbin said. “We’ve got to learn to trust each other as players on the floor and just go out and compete together as a group of guys and not as individuals, two or three guys going hard. We’ve got to have everybody competing on the floor.”