SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz couldn’t blow this one — playing against an undermanned Milwaukee Bricks, err, Bucks, team that was without Andrew Bogut, Mike Dunleavy and Beno Udrih.

The Jazz did let the Bucks get close in the fourth quarter before clamping down and holding them without a basket for nearly eight minutes. Utah earns solid marks for winning a game it should have.

GUARDS: Just when Devin Harris plays a game that Jazz fans are accustomed to seeing from their point guard, he gets hurt. Harris dished a season-high six assists before suffering a strained left calf. He only took two shots and went scoreless in 17 minutes. Raja Bell was in the starting lineup again, but only played 12 minutes. He sat out the entire fourth quarter. He hit a 3-pointer in the third quarter to make it 49-40, and again played well on defense. Milwaukee’s starting backcourt of Brandon Jennings and Carlos Delfino combined to shoot 4-for-26, so that certainly raises Utah’s grade. Grade: A-

FORWARDS: There’s a reason why Paul Millsap is a fan-favorite. He left the game with a knee injury early in the fourth quarter, but quickly returned. His shot was on, as he went 6-for-7 from the field and had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Gordon Hayward was also much better than he was on Monday night, as he had 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting. Milwaukee’s starting frontcourt made 7 of 26 attempts and was badly outplayed by Millsap and Hayward. Grade: A

CENTERS: Al Jefferson was dominant offensively with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Enes Kanter continues to provide the Jazz with a spark when he plays. The Jazz were fortunate that Andrew Bogut didn’t play, and surprisingly let Drew Gooden have a big night with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Grade: B+

BENCH: Derrick Favors is reaching fan-favorite status with the highlight-reel plays he provides on a nightly basis. He blocked five shots, scored six points and had seven rebounds. Alec Burks scored seven of his nine points from the free-throw line and dished six assists. The Jazz’s bench outscored the Milwaukee reserves 31-16. That’s big. Grade: A-

COACHING: It’s fun to watch what type of lineup combinations coach Tyrone Corbin comes up with. He started the fourth quarter with Jamaal Tinsley at point guard, Burks, Kanter, Miles and Favors. After he replaced Kanter with Jefferson, the Jazz held the Bucks without a basket for nearly eight minutes. Fans are probably still questioning why Bell is starting, but you can’t argue with the results in three home games. Grade: A

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

Four games into a new season, the Jazz’s slightly rebuilt offense has been defined by two unattractive facts: The ball is sticking and points seldom come easy.

While starters Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Devin Harris still form the core of Utah’s attack, everything from an abbreviated training camp and minimal regular-season practice to a starting rotation that settled in only Saturday during a road loss to San Antonio has contributed to the Jazz’s struggles.

Several players said deeper issues form the foundation of Utah’s offensive woes, though, and the main culprits are a lack of motion and comfort when the Jazz (1-3) possess the ball.

“We’ve got to create some easier shots for ourselves,” said starting small forward Gordon Hayward, after a 104-89 defeat to the Spurs. “That may be just cutting harder or getting stops defensively so we can run — something to get a little bit of a rhythm going.”

Some of Utah’s 2010-11 beat still exists. Jefferson was the Jazz’s average leading scorer last season, and he’s the focal point again this year. The eight-year veteran center with a soft touch tops the team in points (14.7), minutes (30), field goals attempted (16.3) and made (6.7). Meanwhile, Millsap and Harris rank in the top four of the Jazz’s 13 players in scoring and field-goal attempts.

But with Utah’s tempo often lagging and the first unit bogged down in methodical midcourt sets, the ball has regularly dragged across the floor as other players watch and wait instead of taking action.

The Jazz have recorded 21 or fewer points during eight of 16 quarters this season, including three of four in a loss to San Antonio that saw Utah trail by 27 in the fourth period. The Jazz entered Sunday ranked 27th out of 30 teams in average points per shot (1.07), 26th in field-goal percentage (40.1), and 23rd in scoring (90.5) and assists (18.3).

“We’ve still got a lot to work on. … Things are just not working out for us,” Millsap said.

Story continues below

The lack of offensive action, combined with a defense that’s mentally collapsed when shots fail to fall, has put Utah in a hole. The Jazz have trailed by double digits in all four of their games, given up game-changing runs during their three losses, and top only winless Washington in point differential (-13.5).

“Effort is big with us. … At the same time, we have to create easier shots,” reserve point guard Earl Watson said. “Our defense has to create shots in transition: layups, open jumpers, rhythm shots. When we don’t get transition points and you’re playing on the road and you’re playing behind, that’s a lot of pressure for each shooter.”

Increased pressure and a lack of touches are forcing Utah wing players Raja Bell, C.J. Miles and Hayward to shoot out of rhythm. The trio has often been excluded from offensive sets, while Bell — Utah’s starting shooting guard — has been little more than a placeholder. The 12-year veteran ranks 11th on the Jazz in average points (2.8), field-goal percentage (29.4) and field-goal attempts (4.3). Meanwhile, Utah ranks 27th in the league in average 3-pointers made (4), 26th in 3-point percentage (26.2) and 24th in attempts (15.3).

“When you’re constantly kind of walking the ball up the floor after getting scored on and whatever, you end up just standing a little bit,” Hayward said. “It’s frustrating — it’s very frustrating. But hopefully we’ll be able to look at the [game] film and fix some of those things.”

bsmith@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz

facebook.com/tribjazz

Four games into a new season, the Jazz’s slightly rebuilt offense has been defined by two unattractive facts: The ball is sticking and points seldom come easy.

While starters Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Devin Harris still form the core of Utah’s attack, everything from an abbreviated training camp and minimal regular-season practice to a starting rotation that settled in only Saturday during a road loss to San Antonio has contributed to the Jazz’s struggles.

Several players said deeper issues form the foundation of Utah’s offensive woes, though, and the main culprits are a lack of motion and comfort when the Jazz (1-3) possess the ball.

“We’ve got to create some easier shots for ourselves,” said starting small forward Gordon Hayward, after a 104-89 defeat to the Spurs. “That may be just cutting harder or getting stops defensively so we can run — something to get a little bit of a rhythm going.”

Some of Utah’s 2010-11 beat still exists. Jefferson was the Jazz’s average leading scorer last season, and he’s the focal point again this year. The eight-year veteran center with a soft touch tops the team in points (14.7), minutes (30), field goals attempted (16.3) and made (6.7). Meanwhile, Millsap and Harris rank in the top four of the Jazz’s 13 players in scoring and field-goal attempts.

But with Utah’s tempo often lagging and the first unit bogged down in methodical midcourt sets, the ball has regularly dragged across the floor as other players watch and wait instead of taking action.

The Jazz have recorded 21 or fewer points during eight of 16 quarters this season, including three of four in a loss to San Antonio that saw Utah trail by 27 in the fourth period. The Jazz entered Sunday ranked 27th out of 30 teams in average points per shot (1.07), 26th in field-goal percentage (40.1), and 23rd in scoring (90.5) and assists (18.3).

“We’ve still got a lot to work on. … Things are just not working out for us,” Millsap said.

Story continues below

The lack of offensive action, combined with a defense that’s mentally collapsed when shots fail to fall, has put Utah in a hole. The Jazz have trailed by double digits in all four of their games, given up game-changing runs during their three losses, and top only winless Washington in point differential (-13.5).

“Effort is big with us. … At the same time, we have to create easier shots,” reserve point guard Earl Watson said. “Our defense has to create shots in transition: layups, open jumpers, rhythm shots. When we don’t get transition points and you’re playing on the road and you’re playing behind, that’s a lot of pressure for each shooter.”

Increased pressure and a lack of touches are forcing Utah wing players Raja Bell, C.J. Miles and Hayward to shoot out of rhythm. The trio has often been excluded from offensive sets, while Bell — Utah’s starting shooting guard — has been little more than a placeholder. The 12-year veteran ranks 11th on the Jazz in average points (2.8), field-goal percentage (29.4) and field-goal attempts (4.3). Meanwhile, Utah ranks 27th in the league in average 3-pointers made (4), 26th in 3-point percentage (26.2) and 24th in attempts (15.3).

“When you’re constantly kind of walking the ball up the floor after getting scored on and whatever, you end up just standing a little bit,” Hayward said. “It’s frustrating — it’s very frustrating. But hopefully we’ll be able to look at the [game] film and fix some of those things.”

bsmith@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz

facebook.com/tribjazz

SAN ANTONIO — Big Al is back in the starting lineup.

The Utah Jazz waited as long as they possibly could to determine Al Jefferson’s availability for tonight’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, but the starting center will give it a go.

The Jazz’s usual starting center missed Friday night’s 102-99 win over the Philadelphia 76ers because of an inflamed right ankle.

Jefferson worked out and warmed up at the AT&T Center under the watch of trainer Gary Briggs, and they determined 45 minutes before the 6:30 p.m. MT tip that his health had improved enough to try to play.

Jefferson’s return sends his one-game replacement, Derrick Favors, to the bench.

In Big Al’s center spot Friday, Favors scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds in the Jazz’s first win of the season. Before Jefferson was ruled out against the 76ers, however, coach Tyrone Corbin had decided to reinsert Paul Millsap into the starting power forward position.

After two rough starts at power forward and a monster game at center, Favors hopes to keep the momentum going after his big performance.

His plan, Favors explained, is to “just try to play the same way I played. Really not try to go out and get the same numbers, but go out there and do what I did on defense and everything else will come.”

Along with Jefferson, the Jazz’s opening lineup includes Devin Harris, Raja Bell, Gordon Hayward and Millsap.

The Jazz will continue their difficult beginning to the 2011-12 season with back-to-back home games on Monday (New Orleans) and Tuesday (Milwaukee).

Email: jody@desnews.com Twitter: DJJazzyJody