SALT LAKE CITY — The NBA announced today that Utah Jazz guard Devin Harris , forwards Derrick Favors and Paul Millsap, and center Al Jefferson are featured on the 2012 NBA All-Star ballot, which was unveiled today during a special tip-off event in Orlando, Fla., the host city of NBA All-Star 2012. NBA All-Star balloting began today at 10:15 a.m. MT. The 61st NBA All-Star Game will be played at the Amway Center on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012.

Harris was a 2009 NBA All-Star selection and has started the first six games for the Jazz, averaging 10.2 points and 4.2 assists. Favors, Jefferson and Millsap are vying for their first-ever All-Star selections. Jefferson currently leads the Jazz in scoring at 18.2 points per game, while also contributing 8.4 rebounds, 1.60 blocks and 1.00 steal. Millsap is the Jazz’s second-leading scorer, averaging a near double-double at 12.0 points and 9.2 rebounds to go with 2.00 steals per game. An NBA All-Rookie Second Team selection last year, Favors is averaging 8.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.33 blocks in 24.8 minutes in his second NBA campaign. Fans are also permitted to cast write-in votes for other Jazz players not listed on the ballot.

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 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 — It was an interesting day for Josh Howard.

First, on Monday afternoon, the Utah Jazz reserve forward got punished to the tune of a $25,000 fine for his flagrant foul in last Saturday’s game against San Antonio.

Then the nine-year NBA veteran went out and punished the New Orleans Hornets a little bit in Utah’s 94-90 victory on Monday night at EnergySolutions Arena.

Howard, who had 18 points and seven rebounds in Utah’s loss to the Spurs, followed that up with a solid 13-point performance against New Orleans as the Jazz improved their early season record to 2-3.

“I’m coming around as far as my legs go,” said Howard, a former All-Star with the Dallas Mavericks who was a free agent before signing with the Jazz on Dec. 15. “Our defense was good in the fourth quarter. Ultimately at the end of the day, you’ve got to have defense to win games. The offense will come eventually, but the main focus right now is defense.

“I don’t know my role right now, you know, I just go out there and play and try to be a veteran leader. That is my role, as far as myself defining it, but for the most part the team is trying to focus on defense, and we played great defensively over the last six minutes, and that was the main thing.”

Howard hit a big jump shot midway through the fourth quarter to tie the score at 80, and his two free throws with 3:48 remaining gave Utah an 85-84 edge and put the Jazz ahead for good.

Then with little more than a minute remaining and the Jazz clinging to a precarious three-point lead at 89-86, Howard came up with a huge offensive rebound that allowed Utah to run more precious time off the clock before Devin Harris hit Paul Millsap flashing down the lane for a slam dunk that made it 91-86 with under a minute to go.

“Oh, yeah, I snuck in there,” Howard said of grabbing a critical carom off the offensive glass. “I had to get my young Wake Forest alum (Al-Farouq Aminu) away from the ball. That was a big possession.”

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin has certainly noticed Howard’s contributions and says the cagey 31-year-old forward could be in line for additional playing time.

“He’s getting in better shape, man, and he knows how to play,” Corbin said.

“I love his approach to the game and he’s going to continue to get better as he gets in better shape.

“If he continues to work and learn what we want to do and be effective for us, right now he’s a tough matchup for teams. He does a good job of putting pressure on other teams and getting stops. He wants to be in there and he’s doing a lot of extra stuff still to get in the game. There’s a lot of upside to what he’s doing.”

Harris hit 7-of-8 free throws, and his ability to get to the foul line certainly wasn’t lost on Corbin.

SALT LAKE CITY — Raja Bell is a smart NBA player.

He can do math, too.

So, yes, he’s aware that hitting 5 of 17 field goals through four games falls into the rough start category.

“I would like to be a shooting a higher field-goal percentage,” said the 12-year veteran, who’s shooting 29.4 percent. “But, ultimately, I don’t think it really matters if I make or miss my three shots in a game.”

Obviously, Bell wants to make those precious few shots (4.25 per game, to be precise) — if not get more looks.

But the veteran isn’t the only offensive goat on a struggling 1-3 team that’s averaging just 90.5 points on 40 percent shooting.

Scoring is just one part of his job. Considering his gritty defensive style and other Jazz weapons, oodles of offense isn’t necessarily what the team needs from him.

As the starter, Bell gets the first crack at Kobe Bryant, Manu Ginobili and other top-notch scoring threats.

“He knows how to play different guys,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said.

Asked for an assessment of his 2011-12 start, the 35-year-old said he’s making an extra effort on defense because his offensive game hasn’t arrived yet.

“If something’s not working, you’ve got to try to make a difference somewhere else,” Bell said. “I think I’m doing a good job defensively.”

So does Corbin, who defends Bell’s defense.

That’s why the second-year coach has kept him in the starting lineup even while some fans plead for rookie shooting guard Alec Burks — a more explosive scorer — to get more playing time and/or to start.

“I feel comfortable with what he’s doing. He’s playing his defense,” Corbin said. “I thought he did a good job on Ginobili in the first quarter (Saturday), and then he had that run in the second quarter.”

When Bell was on the bench, mind you.

But the guard’s effort isn’t predicated on his shots falling or not.

“All I can do is go out there and play hard,” Bell said. “If Ty and (coaches) think that I’m a good fit, then I’ll go out there and try to do my best.”

Offensively, Bell knows he has nowhere to go but up.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like it necessarily clicked for me last year on offense and I’m struggling again,” he said. “But I’ll keep plugging away at it. The one thing I know I can control is busting my (behind) defensively, so that’s what I’m doing.”

DISCUSSING D: The new Jazz defense (allowing 104.0 points per game) remains a work in progress, which will require more talking and effort to help each other out.

“Communication falls into rotations,” Jazz forward Josh Howard said, “because you’ve got to talk on defense, not saying nobody didn’t talk (Saturday). We’ve just got to want it a little bit more.”

SAN ANTONIO — What do the Jazz need to do in order to win, then? Keep Al Jefferson out of the game?

Following a three-point win over Philadelphia Friday night, Utah reverted back to the same poor play it had in its first two games of the year with the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver, and shot below 40 percent for the second time in four contests (including 2-of-16 from the 3-point line) in getting hammered, 104-89, by the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night in Texas.

Jefferson returned to the lineup after sitting out against the Sixers at EnergySolutions Arena.

GUARDS: Devin Harris continues to turn in sub-par performances. He scored eight points on just 2-of-8 shooting, while dishing out just three assists. Curiously, he shared time with Earl Watson, who was equally bad in going just 2-of-9 from the floor with no assists.

Raja Bell has yet to play great in any game, going scoreless in three attempts in 17 minutes Saturday, while C.J. Miles returned to inconsistency by scoring seven points on just 2-of-7 shooting. Meanwhile, San Antonio shooting guard Manu Ginobili was nearly flawless in scoring nearly as many points (23) as he logged minutes (24), while going 9-of-10 from the field. He simply ran around, shot over and backcut the listless Jazz guards whenever he actually was in the game. Really, no Jazz guard hardly played well at all. GRADE: D-

FORWARDS: Paul Millsap scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting with seven rebounds, but he really needs more shot attempts. Derrick Favors gave a mediocre performance in 23 minutes in his first effort off the bench this season, while Gordon Hayward probably gave his worst performance of the young season, going just 1-of-9 for four points. He tallied four assists and three rebounds. Former all-star Josh Howard scored 18 points, but it came on 6-of-16 shooting. Future Spurs hall-of-famer Tim Duncan was limited to a 4-of-13 effort. GRADE: C-

CENTERS: Jefferson did return with a decent offensive game in scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He and rookie Enes Kanter allowed DeJuan Blair to score 17 points on just eight field goal attempts. Kanter’s two rebounds mark the lowest rebounding game of his four-game NBA career. It remains to be seen if the Jazz will miss Mehmet Okur. GRADE: B-

BENCH: You know when you’re in trouble when Howard’s 6-of-16 effort leads the bench attack. Overall, the reserves shot just 16-of-43 from the field in going just 1-of-8 from the 3-point line. The saving grace? The Jazz bench outscored the San Antonio reserves 48-30. GRADE: C

LYNN DeBRUIN
AP Sports Writer

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – The Utah Jazz are expected to play their first home game of the season Friday. For the businesses in downtown Salt Lake the news couldn’t be better.

With the Jazz back, millions of dollars will go back into the Utah economy, some were worried those millions would never return. Now, stores around Energy Solutions Arena are breathing a sigh of relief.

The Jazz are back.

“It’s going to be good to get out there and see what happens,” said Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz Forward.

“Feels great to get back home,” said Tyrone Corbin, Utah Jazz Head Coach.

They’re not alone; fans are already waiting for autographs, and businesses near Energy Solutions Arena are jumping for joy.

“We’re excited to have them back,” said Makayla Denton, Manager, Thaifoon Taste of Asia.

“Ecstatic, super excited,” said Susan Shrum, Operating Partner, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar.

“There’s no question on Jazz nights we’re a lot busier,” said Brady Lambert, Manager, Ben & Jerry’s.

Months ago many wondered if there would be any games at all. A lockout threatened to cancel the entire NBA season. Finally after 149 days, owners and players came to a new collective bargaining agreement, and games are now back on.

“We’ve been waiting for it since the lockout, so it feels great,” said Derrick Favors, Utah Jazz Forward.

With the Jazz back on home court, restaurants downtown are anticipating a big boost in sales.

“Last Wednesday we had one of our biggest Wednesdays we’ve had in over a year,” said Denton.

“And that was just a preseason game?” asked Reporter Brian Carlson.

“Yah, that was a preseason game,” Denton said.

“(Normally) we do about 200 covers in about 5 hours,” said Shrum.

“And on a Jazz night?” asked Carlson.

“We do 200 in an hour and a half,” Shrum said.

For restaurants like Fleming’s that means an extra $10,000 a night.

To handle the crowds expected Friday, ABC 4 is told, restaurants are not only adding extra food and extra staff; they’re also creating food specials just for Jazz fans.

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