SALT LAKE CITY — Just before Tuesday’s tipoff, the Milwaukee Bucks announced that they’d play without former Ute standout Andrew Bogut , starter Mike Dunleavy and shooter Beno Udrih.

And the Utah Jazz finished with two key players, Devin Harris (calf) and Josh Howard (quad), in the training room with strained muscles and a roster full of worn-out athletes who’d played six games in eight nights.

Throw in the fact this contest was the tail end of a back-to-back for both teams and, well, even a mother might’ve struggled to appreciate its unique ugliness.

One coach didn’t mind its appearance.

Neither did Tyrone Corbin’s Jazz players, who evened their record at 3-3 with a gritty-and-beauty-challenged 85-73 win over the Bucks at EnergySolutions Arena.

“It wasn’t a pretty game on either end — a lot of turnovers, a lot of missed shots,” Harris said. “It was a kind of grind-out game.”

Utah was as sloppy as you might expect for a team playing its sixth game in eight nights. The Jazz had 24 turnovers, didn’t score more than 23 points in a quarter and allowed 23 offensive rebounds.

Thanks to their gutsy defense, they came out looking like Homecoming Kings compared to the depleted Bucks, who only shot 30.5 percent against a Jazz squad that was last in the NBA in defensive field-goal percentage.

“Defensively, we really stepped up tonight,” Jazz small forward Gordon Hayward said. “And we’re going to have to keep doing that.”

Getting repeat Mark Eatonesque performances would be nice, too.

Twelve of Milwaukee’s 66 misses (29-95 shooting) were sent the other direction by the swat-happy home team.

“Derrick Favors was the one who set the tone,” Jazz center Al Jefferson said.

Favors had a career-high five blocks, all in the first half when Utah held the Bucks to 34 points.

“That’s what I do,” Favors said. “Play defense, block shots, rebound — just bring some energy out, just try to get this win.”

Jefferson and Paul Millsap each blocked a pair of Bucks’ shots. That interior defense sent Milwaukee shooters scurrying outside, where they missed 19 of 21 3-pointers.

“They did a great job of converging on the inside and making them make outside shots,” Corbin said. “That’s the thing we want to continue to build on, make sure we protect the basket and paint.”

Offensively, the Jazz were boosted by Big Al’s season-high 26 points. He also had 10 rebounds.

Millsap added 13 points and 12 boards, Hayward chipped in 12 points and Earl Watson dished out eight assists, filling in nicely for Harris after the starter left in the third quarter. Favors finished with a line of six points, seven rebounds and five blocks.

“Guys fought it out,” Corbin said. “Everybody’s a little beat up, and we used everybody on the roster.”

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 — 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 — The NBA’s compacted 66-game schedule lends itself to more injuries and less time to recover from the aches and pains of playing back-to-back nights or three games in four nights.

It also leads to a bunch of strained and pained players like the Jazz had at the end of their 85-73 win over Milwaukee. Both Josh Howard (strained left quad) and Devin Harris (strained left calf) left early with injuries.

Thus, team trainers like Utah’s Gary Briggs, will take on an even more vital role this season in keeping players on the court.

“We’re playing so many games so fast, the guys’ bodies are beat up and you want to try and give them a chance to get their feet back under them as soon as you can,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. “But you need to have the time together to continue to develop.”

Film sessions and shootarounds are longer now than they will be later, Corbin explained.

“You have to make sure that the guys understand what you want them to do, and I have a feel for what they think will give them a batter chance to succeed, too,” he said. “So there’s a little more input from the player and that’s just so we make sure we’re on the same page as much as we can as soon as we can.”

Knowing players’ bodies respond on their own time schedule, Corbin said they have to be careful because they can’t “overload” guys and expect them to perform as well in games.

“Games are coming back-to-back,” Harris said, “and we knew that coming in and honestly we can’t do much about it but just try to take care of our bodies and just try to focus. We have less practice time so we’ve got to fix a lot of this stuff in in-game situations.”

PRACTICE?: The Jazz had their first home back-to-back Monday and Tuesday games since November of 2008. With that scheduling quirk, came another oddity: a shootaround on the morning of the second game.

Usually, the Jazz have a late-morning breakfast meeting to discuss strategy for that night’s game.

“We need to continue to develop,” Corbin said. “It’s an opportunity to get the guys out of bed for a little bit, just to come over and do some things, get their blood flowing a little bit.”

The players didn’t mind — after they woke up later than usual, that is.

“It’s good to get up, get moving, get our heartrate up instead of just sleeping and being lazy,” Al Jefferson said. “I didn’t want to hear it, but once we got up it’s best for us to do it because we’re a young team.”

Added C.J. Miles: “Anytime you get a chance to be able to sit down and talk about things and break things down, you’ve got to take it.”

NO FREEBIES: Jefferson averaged 3.6 free throws per game in his first seven seasons. But coming into Tuesday’s game, the center had only taken six in four games in 2011-12.

That, despite making 67 field-goal attempts.

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.

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