Playing at home versus on the road has made a world of difference for the
Utah Jazz.

Picking up more wins as the visiting team will surely be key if they are
going to eventually climb into the Western Conference playoff picture.

Utah looks to avoid a 13th loss in 16 road games and a sixth consecutive
defeat to the Phoenix Suns as these teams open their season series Wednesday
night.

While the Jazz (20-21) have won 15 of 21 on their own court, they’ve
struggled to get things going in opposing arenas. Utah’s 5-15 road record is
second-worst among West teams, a big reason the team is outside the top eight in
the conference.

Averaging 99.8 points at home compared to 93.9 on the road, the Jazz
returned from a 2-3 trip to defeat Detroit 105-90 on Monday. Utah shot 54.2
percent from the field and outrebounded the Pistons 38-29.

“It’s a good start to a big week for us. This is a good game for us to win,”
said Paul Millsap, who had a season-high five steals and his first double-double
in three weeks. “We’re only a few games out of the playoffs, so we’re gonna come
and do everything we can to win games, and hopefully we’ll get there in the
end.”

Utah now heads back on the road, where it’s been outscored by an average of
10.5 points in dropping six straight versus West foes.

“Hopefully we can try and figure it out on the road,” Millsap said. “It’s a
big difference, especially for a young team. On the road, it’s a different
monster – it’s just you against the world and you gotta be prepared for that.”

The Jazz could have a hard time building on Monday’s result given their
recent efforts versus the Suns (19-22). Phoenix has outscored Utah by 10.6
points per contest during a five-game run in the series.

Despite posting their highest scoring output of the season Monday, the Suns
saw their five-game home winning streak come to an end with a 127-124 loss to
Minnesota. The Timberwolves dominated the paint, where they outscored Phoenix
46-32, and shot 56.2 percent from the field and 63.6 percent (14 of 22) from
3-point range.

“We just did a poor job defensively, obviously,” said Jared Dudley, who
scored a season-high 28 points and is averaging 19.7 over the last six games.
“But even with that our offense kept us in the game and still gave us a chance
to win the game.

“They played well enough to beat us (Monday) and we have to go back to the
drawing board and come back on Wednesday and beat Utah.”

The Suns could have trouble trying to contain an inspired Al Jefferson, who
scored 33 points on 14-of-18 shooting to go along with 12 boards Monday – about
24 hours after the passing of his 82-year-old maternal grandmother.

“It’s tough to go through, but it’s a part of life and you must go on,” he
said. ” … Your teammates (are) your second family. They’ve been very
supportive. They didn’t even expect me to play tonight. I told them I was coming
… 100 percent ready to win the game because it’s all about business when you
step on that court.”

While Jefferson’s career average of 20.7 points versus Phoenix is his
highest against any opponent, he’s only experienced four wins in 17 meetings
with the Suns.

Detroit Pistons at Utah Jazz

When: 9 p.m.

Where: EnergySolutions Arena

Records: Pistons 15-26 (fifth in
Central); Jazz 19-21 (fifth in Northwest).

Last game: The Pistons set a
variety of superlative marks for the season in a 105-86 home victory
Saturday over the Toronto Raptors which completed a three-game
homestand sweep. The Jazz got blown out that night in Chicago,
111-97, as the Bulls shot 55.8 percent from the field.

Pistons probable starters:
Tayshaun Prince, 6-9, 215 (Kentucky); Jason Maxiell, 6-7, 260
(Cincinnati); Greg Monroe, 6-11, 250 (Georgetown); Rodney Stuckey,
6-5, 205 (Eastern Washington); Brandon Knight, 6-3, 189 (Kentucky).

Jazz probable starters: Josh
Howard, 6-7, 210 (Wake Forest); Paul Millsap, 6-8, 253 (Louisiana
Tech); Al Jefferson, 6-10, 289 (Prentiss, Miss., H.S.); Gordon
Hayward, 6-8, 210 (Butler); Devin Harris, 6-3, 192 (Wisconsin).

Fast facts: Jazz guard Raja
Bell, who missed the Chicago game after the team sent him home
following an unspecified disagreement with head coach Tyrone Corbin, will be in uniform tonight after a meeting this morning with Corbin and general manager Kevin O’Connor. … Bell is easily Utah’s best 3-point
shooter, at 41.3 percent. … Jefferson’s availability is in question
after he was excused from today’s shootaround for a personal reason,
and if he doesn’t make it back in time, Derrick Favors will start at
center. … Jefferson leads the Jazz in scoring (18.9 ppg),
rebounding (9.3 rpg), and blocked shots (1.55 bpg). … The Jazz are
running into a Pistons team on its hottest stretch of the season
after a 37-point first quarter, 61-point first half, and 31-point
third-quarter lead, all season-bests, against the Raptors. … The Pistons open a five-game western swing in Utah, where they have lost the last seven meetings. … The Pistons have lost 11 of the last 12 games in the series. … The Jazz are the worst-shooting team from
3-point range in the NBA, at 29.9 percent. … The Jazz commit the
fifth-fewest turnovers in the league, 14.05 per game.

Frank-ly speaking: “Things go
from good to bad and bad to good very, very quickly. You can look
around the league and you see how today’s toast is tomorrow’s roast.
And that’s how it is. It’s not just us. It’s 75 percent of this
league. It’s the parity in this league, the scheduling, when you hit
different opponents, when your team is ready to win. There are so
many variables to it. And that’s why you just stay in the moment.
You can’t get caught up in too many other things, other than what you
have to do today to win and get better.” – Lawrence Frank, on the
recent playoff buzz.

TV: Fox Sports Detroit

Email David Mayo at dmayo@mlive.com and
follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/David_Mayo

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Devin Harris went through shootaround this morning and plans on playing tonight when the Utah Jazz take on the Charlotte Bobcats (5 p.m. MT, ROOT Sports).

Harris sprained his right knee in Monday’s 109-100 win at Cleveland during the Jazz’s first road victory in three weeks.

“I wasn’t really that worried,” Harris said after today’s prep session at Time Warner Cable Arena. “The swelling came down. I’ll just warm up as hard as I can (tonight). If it still feels good, I expect to play. It’s feeling pretty good.”

Josh Howard will also start again despite missing Tuesday’s practice with a sinus infection. Corbin said the Jazz’s veteran-heavy first five will remain the same as it was in Cleveland, with Harris, Raja Bell, Howard, Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson.

Earl Watson sat out the second half of Tuesday’s practice after banging up his knee a bit, but said he’s fine and called the injury “nothing.” He went through shootaround as well, and could be called on for extra action along with backup Jamaal Tinsley depending on how Harris holds up.

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said the team will carefully watch Harris to make sure he’s “completely healthy.” They might pull him early if he’s limping to avoid risking doing further damage to his MCL.

“We need everybody to be full speed,” Corbin said.

The Jazz (18-19) are looking to put together back-to-back road wins for only the second time this season. They’re facing a Charlotte team that only has five wins, but the Bobcats stunned Orlando on Tuesday by rallying from 20 down to win going away.

“It’s an important game for us. We need to make sure we continue to grow on the road,” said Corbin, whose team has a 4-13 road record. “We had some success in Cleveland the other night, but we have to play a certain way. We can’t afford to think we can just show up and just win a game because anybody’s record is what it is.”

The Jazz have been reminded what happened the last time they did that in a similar situation. Utah beat a good Memphis team on the road and followed it up with a stinker of a showing in a loss to a then-four-win New Orleans team.

“We can’t afford to have no letdowns,” Corbin added. “We need to get this win tonight.”

Utah visits Philadelphia and Chicago this weekend to wrap up this season-high five-game road trip.

Email: jody@desnews.com Twitter: DJJazzyJody Blog: Jazzland.blogs.deseretnews.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the first part of the season, Earl Watson joked that he was Jeremy Evans’ dunk agent. On Monday, the Utah Jazz point guard announced that he’s added somebody new to his agency.

“I’m trying to get Al Jefferson in the skills challenge,” Watson said, smiling. “Did you see him out there? That’s why he’s my client. I’m going viral with the campaign.”

Posting highlights of Big Al’s big assist night on the Internet might be the first step to getting the Jazz center into the All-Star Weekend event. If it goes as well as it did for Evans, the reigning NBA dunk champion, Gov. Herbert will need to write an official ode for an Al Jefferson Day in Utah.

Or the guv might call it Triple Threat Day.

That’s the new nickname Watson came up with for Jefferson, who had game-highs in scoring (25), rebounding (13) and assists (a career-high seven) in the Jazz’s 109-100 win at Cleveland.

Jefferson became just the fourth Jazz player in franchise history to lead both teams in those three statistical categories outright in a game, according to Elias Sports Bureau. (Pete Maravich, Karl Malone and Andre Kirilenko also did it.)

While the scoring and rebounding parts weren’t unusual for Jefferson — he leads Utah with 19 double-doubles — being the team’s top distributor was a rarity.

Dishing out dimes isn’t quite as uncommon for Big Al as it used to be. He’s established season-highs in two of the past three games, and he’s on track to having the best assists season of his eight-year NBA career (2.2 apg compared to 1.8 apg last year).

Not bad for a guy who used to jokingly called himself a “Black Hole,” playing off a somewhat-deserved reputation that the basketball didn’t see the light of day (or his teammates’ hands) after he consumed it.

“When I was in Minnesota when I had that reputation of not passing the ball, it was kind of like if I didn’t (shoot) it nobody was going to do it,” Jefferson admitted. “Now I’ve got guys around me. It’s common sense. Double team, pass it out.”

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin believes the 27-year-old has turned a corner when it comes to passing, especially when he receives extra attention from defenders. That helped the Jazz beat the Heat on Friday, when Jefferson recognized an oncoming double-team situation and assisted on Devin Harris’ game-winning three-point play. There were times earlier this season when Big Al tried to shoot his way out of triple-teams.

Now, Corbin said, “He’s a willing passer.”

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Utah Jazz point guard Devin Harris was feeling sick to his stomach and couldn’t finish Wednesday night’s game.

By then, the damage had already been done, as Harris pushed the tempo and helped turn an eight-point deficit into a 104-83 blowout victory over the Houston Rockets.

”It was all Devin,” Jazz center Al Jefferson of Harris, who finished with 19 points before leaving late in the third quarter. ”He attacked. He was a one-man factory tonight. We got behind him. He set the tone, especially after that first quarter.”

The Jazz initially looked like a team that had dropped four straight, turning the ball over 10 times in the first quarter and falling behind 26-18.

The Rockets still led 36-28 after a 3-pointer by Goran Dragic with 7:31 left in the second before the Jazz closed on a 21-8 run, including eight straight points by Harris.

”That’s the Devin I used to love and hate because he used to do that to us,” Jefferson said of Harris’ days in Dallas. ”He did it the last couple of games, really stepped it up and attacked the basket. That’s going to really get us going.”

C.J. Miles provided the rest of the offensive punch, scoring a season-high 27 points off the bench on 10-of-16 shooting, including three 3-pointers. He started the comeback with nine points in the second quarter, including six straight and nine of 13 in a 4-minute stretch as Utah pulled to 36-35.

”Miles went off on us and we had no answers for that tonight,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said.

Utah also stepped it up defensively to halt a four-game losing streak and the Rockets’ four-game winning streak.

Utah’s losing streak started in Houston 11 days earlier with a 101-85 loss thanks to several 3-pointers by the Rockets – 10 in all and seven by point guard Kyle Lowry.

This time, the Rockets started 0 of 4 from beyond the arc and finished 6 of 23.

And Lowry, who scored 32 points in the first meeting, was held to 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting.

Shooting guard Kevin Martin fared even worse, going 2 of 10 and finishing with just six points – about 12 below his season average. Luis Scola led Houston with 18 points.

Jefferson gave Josh Howard plenty of credit on defending Martin.

”He had a hand in his face every time he shot the ball,” Jefferson said.

After the ugly first quarter, Utah won just about every statistical category. The Jazz held a 58-32 advantage on points in the paint, 50-34 edge in rebounds, 30-22 edge on fast-break points, and 14-8 edge on second-chance points.

”They pushed us on transition … and we just didn’t get back and play with the defensive intensity that we needed,” Lowry said.

”I think we definitely felt like we got outworked tonight. Those guys played with the intensity and tenacity that a desperate team, (one on) a four-game losing streak, (that) wanted to get a win.”

The Jazz won despite playing without injured starters Paul Millsap and Raja Bell. Millsap missed his first game this season because of a bruised heel while Bell sat out his fourth straight with a strained adductor.

Jefferson added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Utah, and Howard, starting again with Bell out, finished with 14 points. Gordon Hayward had 10 as five Jazz players scored in double figures.

”It’s a great win for us,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. ”We talked at the beginning of the year about not having losing streaks of three games or more. This is the first one this year for us. We don’t want any more of those.”

As the rout was on Wednesday, the second half turned into the Jeremy Evans show.

Evans was honored before the game as the first Jazz player to win the NBA’s Slam Dunk contest. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert declared Feb. 29, leap day in a leap year, as Jeremy Evans Day.

Evans didn’t disappoint the crowd, which saw him throw down a pair of dunks, block three shots and hand out two assists.

”To get the award was amazing, then to come back (home) with a win after All-Star break fun,” Evans said.

It didn’t bother him that fans can only celebrate his special day every four years.

”I’ll take every four years, every five if I have to,” he said. ”It’s exciting.”

The win was a needed boost for the Jazz, who started the season 10-5, but lost 11 of 14 in February entering Wednesday night’s game.

Despite the win, it doesn’t get any easier as LeBron James and the Miami Heat come to town Friday night followed by a road game at Dallas.

”It’s big,” Howard said of Friday’s game against the Heat. ”The atmosphere is going to be crazy because of the guy coming in with that team, but we have to approach it like any other game and try to learn.”

NOTES: Evans edged Rockets forward Chase Budinger for Saturday’s Slam Dunk title, but Budinger insisted before the game there were no hard feelings. ”He had a spectacular dunk, a very unique dunk. I’m happy he won,” said Budinger, who lost by a percentage point. … Lowry was assessed a fourth-quarter technical after hitting his second 3-pointer. … Utah outscored Houston 31-18 in the second quarter as the Rockets shot 31.6 percent and were outscored 18-2 in the paint. … Utah was 16 of 16 from the free-throw line, and held Houston to 39 percent shooting.

After a surprising start, the Utah Jazz went into the All-Star break having
fallen to last place in the Northwest Division.

They’ll look to snap a three-game losing streak – and improve their
atrocious road record – when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.

Utah opened the season with three losses in its first four games, but
impressively won eight of nine to turn things around.

However, the Jazz (15-17) fell back under .500 before the break after losing
10 of 13, including three straight heading into the break.

A 100-98 loss at Minnesota on Wednesday was especially discouraging. Paul
Millsap scored 25 points – his most in 16 games – but Utah blew a 16-point
fourth-quarter lead before losing on Luke Ridnour’s buzzer-beater.

That loss dropped the Jazz to 3-11 on the road, the worst record among the
league’s 22 teams currently within three games of a playoff spot.

It was the third straight contest they failed to protect a second-half lead.
Utah led by 10 in the third quarter against San Antonio before falling 106-102
on Feb. 20, a night after watching a one-point halftime lead in Houston turn
into a 16-point loss.

“It’s disheartening to us, but you have to learn through it,” coach Tyrone
Corbin said. “We play well enough to win these games, but we have to learn how
to finish. It’s real painful now and it should hurt. Coming out of the All-Star
break we have to learn our lessons so we don’t make these mistakes.”

The inability to protect leads was hurt by the Jazz’s struggles to defend
beyond the arc. In the last three games, opponents connected on 31 of 62 shots
from 3-point range.

Prior to that stretch, the Jazz were third in the league in 3-point defense
(31.3 percent).

After stumbling into the break, Utah will try to bounce back against the
Kings (11-22), who beat Washington 115-107 on Wednesday to snap a six-game
losing streak.

The victory came in the finale of a six-game road trip. Marcus Thornton and
Tyreke Evans scored 22 points apiece, DeMarcus Cousins had 16 points and 16
rebounds and Sacramento came from 10 down in the second half.

Cousins finished the first half strong after opening the season by drawing
the ire of former coach Paul Westphal, who was fired in early January.

Cousins has averaged 19.9 points and 11.0 rebounds over his last seven
games, though he’s shot 30.0 percent over his past three.

Even with the occasional inconsistency on the court, coach Keith Smart has
been pleased with Cousins’ improved maturity, citing his willingness to stay on
the bench late during the comeback against the Wizards.

“I was getting ready to put Cousins back in and he said ‘Let Chuck Hayes
stay in the game,’” Smart said. “That’s gigantic for him. Tyreke Evans had a
fabulous first half, came out of the game, didn’t play in the fourth quarter and
simply cheered his teammates on.

“That’s the growth I’m trying for our team to have if we’re ever going to
have a chance to be good and turn our franchise around.”

Evans had a season-high 31 points and nine assists in a 96-93 loss in Utah
on Jan. 28. His 24.0 career points per game against the Jazz are his most versus
any opponent.

Sacramento has dropped four of the past five meetings in the series.

Would the real Utah Jazz team please stand up? Are they those guys who shook off a slow start this season and turned a lot of people’s heads when they won nine of 11 games during one particularly impressive stretch that put them five games over .500? Heck, for a brief moment, they were the second-best team, at least record-wise, in the Western Conference. And Jazz fans were proudly pounding their chests.

Or are they the group of guys who lost 10 of their last 13 games before All-Star Weekend, stumbling into the break with three straight losses? By losing eight of their last 10 games, they’re now 15-17 overall, DFL (dead freaking last) in the Northwest Division and 11th in the West. Their road record of 3-11 is fifth-worst in the league, and only Detroit (3-14), Washington (3-13), Charlotte (2-16) — among the bottom-feeders in the Eastern Conference — and Sacramento (4-17) have had more trouble winning away from home than Utah.

Keep in mind that not much was expected of this Jazz team this season. With a very youthful lineup minus any real superstars, they were expected to struggle.

But that strong start raised everybody’s expectations, probably to unrealistic levels.

An inability to finish strongly in games, resulting in frustrating home-court losses to the L.A. Lakers, Dallas, Toronto, the L.A. Clippers and San Antonio, has been a problem.

An inexplicable loss on the road at New Orleans, and a devastating defeat at Minnesota, where they squandered a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter of their final game before the break, were extremely hard to swallow.

Their recent tailspin has some people shaking their heads, including Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin and his players.

So where do you go from here? Will there be lineup changes? Could a major trade be in the works? And, hey, what have you done for me lately? There are more questions surrounding this franchise than you’ll find on a nightly showing of “Jeopardy.”

Hopefully, though, Corbin won’t phrase his answers in the form of a question. We’ve got enough of those already.

“We’re just fighting our way through it,” the Jazz coach said of the adversity his team has faced, “trying to get better, and you’ve got to enjoy the journey.”

However, their recent journey to Minnesota was, shall we say, less than enjoyable. In a game they coulda, woulda and probably shoulda won, the Jazz blew a double-digit lead and dropped a 100-98 heartbreaker to the Timberwolves on Luke Ridnour’s buzzer-beating floater in the lane.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz have reached the All-Star
break. It’s always the time when you reflect on where you
are in the season. For the Jazz, they enter the break
with a record of 15-17. Your own preseason expectations
will determine whether or not you view being two games
under .500 as positive or negative.

Overall, I think the Jazz have played ok. I didn’t see
Utah as a playoff team and as of today they aren’t.
They’ve basically done what I expected them to do.
They’ve played well at home and struggled on the road.
They’ve lost to teams that are better than they are and
with a few exceptions (vs. Raptors, @ Hornets and @ T-
Wolves) they’ve beaten the teams they should beat.

The Jazz have had a lot of bright spots so far this
season. A few that come to mind are the wins at Denver
and Memphis. Both of those games allowed the Jazz to see
that they are capable of playing good basketball away from
Energy Solutions Arena. Another bright spot has been the
play of rookie Enes Kanter. I wasn’t sure he would get a
ton of playing time early. I was prepared to see the Jazz
send him down to the NBDL so he could get minutes. Not
only has he gotten playing time but he’s made the most of
it. Kanter is averaging five points and five rebounds in
just under 15 minutes.

Utah’s other rookie is turning heads as well. Alec
Burks’ minutes haven’t been as consistent as Kanter’s but
Burks has done everything he can to prove to the coaches
that he deserves more of an opportunity. The knock on
Burks coming out of college was that he wasn’t a good
outside shooter. So far this season he is shooting 41
percent from the field and 39 percent from behind the arc.
Those aren’t great percentages but they’re better than
some of Burks’ teammates that are getting his minutes.

The thing I’m most curious about moving forward is what
direction the Jazz go in with regards to playing time for
the “young guys.” If the playoffs were to start today, at
15-17, the Jazz would be on the outside looking in. They
are two games out of the 8th spot in the West. I don’t
see them making a ton of headway especially with the
brutal schedule they face when they return from the break.
The Jazz will play six out of their next eight games on
the road. Based on this team’s track record away from
SLC, they’ll probably be much further away from the
postseason than just two games at the end of that stretch.

Assuming I’m right, and the playoffs aren’t in the Jazz
future, it is the responsibility of the franchise to
prepare their young and talented players for the years
ahead. Guys like Derrick Favors, Kanter, Gordon Hayward
and Burks should be getting a major bump in playing time
as the season moves on. The argument I always hear is,
“But the vets give you the best chance to win right now.”
That logic only works if you’re winning. The Jazz are a
.469 team and playing guys strictly because they’re vets
only impedes the maturation of the guys that will be the
team’s future stars. I’ve said many times that Jazz fans
are ready to deal with some losing as long as they can see
that the future is bright.

So, what can we expect from now until the end of the
season? I would expect to see more of the same. This
team will continue to be competitive at home and struggle
on the road. That’s just what inexperienced teams do.
This team has enough talent to get some surprise wins and
then turn around and leave you scratching your head by
losing to an inferior team. For me, I’m going to embrace
watching this team develop. I am not going to set my
expectations too high.

The good thing for Jazz fans is that this team is fun to
watch. They’ve got young and exciting players that are
worth coming out to the arena and seeing play. Wouldn’t
it be amazing if the Jazz did go with the youth movement
AND somehow made the playoffs? I know it’s unlikely but
stranger things have happened.

With Devin Harris struggling through his worst overall season since entering the NBA in 2004, it’s hard to qualify one game as a breakthrough. But the eight-year veteran said Monday his 15-point performance during the Jazz’s 106-102 loss to San Antonio was a step in the right direction, and the efficient offensive outing provided a glimpse of Harris in top form.

Utah’s starting point guard was 6 of 8 from the field, 2 of 2 behind the 3-point line and dished out four assists in 30 minutes. Seven of Harris’ points came during the first quarter, when he shot 3 of 4 from the floor and pushed the Jazz to a 20-12 lead.

“[I] felt more like myself,” said Harris, who’s averaging 9 points and 4.4 assists this season, both of which are below his career averages.

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin stuck with Harris down the stretch against the Spurs and he played 30 minutes and 15 seconds overall, compared to 17:45 for backup Earl Watson. At times, Harris also held San Antonio point guard Tony Parker in check. The Spurs’ speedy floor leader recorded game-highs in points (23) and assists (11), and teamed with Tim Duncan to put Utah away late. But Parker shot just 1 of 6 from the floor after halftime and was forced to rely on foul shots for points during the fourth quarter.

“It is a work in progress. I’m just trying to get better,” Harris said. “I’m starting to get more comfortable. And obviously the more games I play, the more comfortable I get.”

Riding the horses

Thirty-one games into the Jazz’s season, Utah’s relying on center Al Jefferson and power forward Paul Millsap more than ever.

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The inside duo combined to take 19 of the Jazz’s 38 field-goal attempts during the second half against the Spurs, and they’re the only Utah players averaging double-digits in scoring this season.

Jefferson and Millsap are high-percentage shooters and have proved they can carry the Jazz. But with Utah tied with Washington for worst in the NBA in average 3-point percentage (29.9) and the Jazz 29th out of 30 teams in makes (3.8), opponents have clearly begun to stack the paint. San Antonio immediately and aggressively double-teamed Jefferson on the low block during the second half, often forcing Utah’s average leading scorer to defer.

“You couldn’t help but to notice it,” Jefferson said.

His passes toward the perimeter didn’t pay off. The Jazz attempted only two 3s after the break, compared with the Spurs’ 11. And while Jefferson managed to go 4 of 9 from the floor following halftime, Utah’s offense was again stagnant down the stretch — the Jazz were outscored 12-6 during the final 5:06.

“I’ve been playing against the Spurs a long time. And every time I start making shots, I notice Tim Duncan play[s] on my left side, so I know that someone[’s] coming on the baseline,” Jefferson said. “The Spurs and Portland do that to me, so you kind of know it’s coming.”

It took 28 games for the Jazz to return to reality.

During a frustrating 1-3 start to the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, a mix-and-match team featuring four returning starters and four players 21 or younger underperformed and underwhelmed. Then Utah surprised the NBA, winning eight of nine and improving to 9-4, leaving players to say the league could no longer overlook a team that won games with a fiery attack, and creating a fervor at EnergySolutions Arena not seen since Deron Williams was in uniform.

But six weeks after facing their first hurdle of the season — a road blowout to San Antonio on Dec. 31 that left coach Tyrone Corbin challenging his team — Utah has again returned to average.

Following a 1-2 run on a back-to-back-to-back away series, the Jazz are 14-14, losers of seven of nine and 10 of 15. And Utah again has more in common with lower-rung Western Conference teams such as Golden State and Minnesota than annual winners Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

With the Jazz starting just 1-5 during a two-month road test that will see the team play 22 of 34 games away from ESA, players aren’t content with the calm, big-picture approach Corbin stuck to Tuesday after watching the Thunder blow out his team by 26. Raja Bell said a Jazz squad without an elected captain still doesn’t have an identity. Devin Harris suggested Utah return to the drawing board six games away from the midway mark of the season. And the normally even-keeled Paul Millsap was an open book, saying the Jazz have obvious problems but no one has determined what they actually are — let alone how to fix them.

To veteran point guard Earl Watson, Utah’s fall toward .500 has given a team that constantly talks about making the playoffs a “reality dosage of NBA basketball.” He said the Jazz must reseal their foundation and take their performance to another level. If not, letdowns such as an almost unexplainable road defeat Monday to 5-23 New Orleans will continue to occur, while Utah won’t have a chance to survive even if it enters the postseason, since the team won’t be able to win away from Salt Lake City.

“We built a nice cushion. But now we’re right back to where it is a sense of urgency. I don’t believe in never panicking, but I also believe in playing with a sense of urgency. Everyone has to enhance everything they do,” said Watson, who played more minutes (57) than starter Devin Harris (34) during Utah’s last two losses, as Corbin benched four of five starters in the fourth quarter of both defeats.

Players’ self-criticism came just two games after the Jazz pulled off their most meaningful win of the season — a 98-88 road win Sunday at Memphis — showing just how far Utah fell during the next two games, while highlighting cracks that have been running through the team’s shell since the season started.

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When the Jazz are at their best, Utah attacks from the opening jump ball, expertly blending a veteran-led first unit with a second team that at times features three lottery picks from 2010 and 2011. But as Bell has often pointed out, the Jazz don’t have the firepower to compete with good teams when they stray from their system, fail to hustle and don’t stick together.

Which is exactly what happened during Utah’s last two losses. The unity built during a team-building trip Saturday to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn., had already been forgotten. And the Jazz were again searching for answers, accepting the fact they’re average, at best, when controllable assets such as effort and intensity are casually tossed aside.

“I can’t speak for anyone [else’s effort]. I can’t. I just can’t. That’s not my place,” Bell said. “I don’t know if one person thinks they’re giving more effort than they are or they’re not. I don’t know. But I come out to play hard every game and I don’t know any other way to do it. But if that’s what [reporters] are seeing, then maybe there’s something to that.”

bsmith@sltrib.com

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

San Antonio • The Jazz’s locker-room door opened Saturday night and C.J. Miles sat hunched down in a chair, studying a box score, while Paul Millsap eyed rows of statistics over his teammates’ shoulder.

Utah had fallen 104-89 to the San Antonio Spurs. The Jazz shot just 37.1 percent from the floor, 12.5 percent behind the 3-point line, distributed only 11 assists and scored 21 points or less in the first three quarters.

With 9 minutes, 52 seconds left in the fourth, Utah (1-3) was down by 27 points and the team’s third blowout in four games to start the 2011-12 campaign was already in the books.

But what wasn’t in the box score were words such as effort, energy and communication. They were the same problems that plagued the Jazz during back-to-back road embarrassments to open the season. And they were the exact issues Utah coach Tyrone Corbin hammered home after watching San Antonio (3-1) run the Jazz out of the AT&T Center via a 20-8 second-quarter run that featured 11 consecutive points from Manu Ginobili, who scored a game-high 23 and drilled 5 of 6 3s.

Al Jefferson led Utah with a team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds, while reserve Josh Howard added 18 points and seven boards.

Corbin knows this will be an at times rough, at times joyous season for the Jazz. Utah’s young and rebuilding, but still trying to win games with veterans such as Devin Harris, Millsap and Jefferson. As a result, unpredictability will rein.

But the one thing Corbin’s squad can control is its nightly effort. And after seeing the Jazz lose three games by an average of 19 points – all featuring big-time, game-changing runs by the victors – consistent effort could be the one trait that keeps Utah moving forward even if defeats pile up.

“We need to keep searching for who we are. We just need to make sure we understand that we need to keep working to get better,” said Corbin, who kept the locker room closed longer than normal for the second game in the three contests.

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He added: “We just need to make sure the guys understand that it’s a long season. We need to stay together and work.”

Sticking together was again a familiar postgame refrain. Reserve forward Derrick Favors said it’s the Jazz’s primary problem when on-the-court play falls apart, while veteran backup point guard Earl Watson said Utah’s shown a tendency to cave when it falls behind on the road.

The Jazz have trailed by double-digits in all four games this season, and Utah had to come back from 13 points down Friday to knock off Philadelphia at home.

“We’re a different team on the road. It’s obvious, for whatever reason,” Watson said. “But you can’t sit there and look for the reason why. You have to look for the reason how to win on the road. First, we’ve got to start getting close.”

The Spurs made that goal almost impossible. San Antonio ran a shooting clinic during the first half, burning Utah on rotations that left the Jazz’s perimeter naked and allowed the Spurs to drain 80 percent (8 of 10) of their 3s.

After Utah was lifted by its youth movement Friday, Saturday was a replay of blowouts to the: poor defense, a methodical and lethargic offense, and energy that occasionally spurted but never became in vogue.

Now, the Jazz return to Salt Lake City staring at a cushion of 12 of 15 January games at EnergySolutions Arena. But two months of brutal road travel follows, and Corbin’s more concerned with his team’s progress and evolution than random home wins.

“It’s going to be up and down for a while until we get [settled],” he said. “It’s just not the way that you lose games – it means something the way we play in a losing ballgame. For the most part, the 48-minute effort that we’re looking for, we haven’t gotten in the losses.”

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SALT LAKE CITY — Get off the ledge, Jazz fans, and breathe easy. There’s no need to jump — your favorite NBA team is not gonna go 0-66 this season.

Not if Friday night’s effort is any indication of things to come.

After back-to-back beatings on the road, the Utah Jazz returned home and conjured up visions of glorious victories from the past with a gritty (and much-needed) 102-99 thriller over the Philadelphia 76ers at raucous EnergySolutions Arena.

It wasn’t clear whether Friday’s drama-filled win was one which brought about great joy or simply a sense of relief. After all, in their season-opener — a 25-point loss to the Lakers — the Jazz were The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight. And in Game 2 — an ugly 17-point defeat at Denver — they looked like The Gang That Couldn’t Play Defense.

But in Game 3 on Friday night, they became The Gang That Refused to Lose at Home.

With four starters — Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, Gordon Hayward and Paul Millsap — scoring in double figures, and two of them — Millsap and Favors — coming up with double-digit rebounds as well, this lineup looked much more focused and cohesive than the one that got slapped around in those lopsided losses at L.A. and Denver.

And with critical contributions off the bench from Earl Watson, C.J. Miles, Josh Howard and Enes Kanter, the Jazz gave their fans a wonderful, albeit a little late, Christmas present — hope.

Hope that this team will rise above all those preseason predictions that have them languishing among the worst teams in the league.

As for now, though, it’s doubtful that any team in NBA history has ever been happier to be 1-2.

And Utah coach Tyrone Corbin was mighty glad to that first victory.

“We needed a win, first of all,” he said. “The first two games on the road, we didn’t really feel good about how we played.

“We made some mistakes again tonight, but I thought our energy level was up on the offensive end of the floor and defensively we did a great job communicating with each other. … The guys did a good job of not falling apart but coming together more and encouraging each other and pushing each other.

“We’re growing; we’re getting better,” Corbin said. “We’re still a young group of guys, and we’ll keep getting better, keep fighting and keep trying to figure it out. And as long as we stay together as a group, we have a great chance to get this thing worked out.”

Before the game, shooting guard C.J. Miles — who, at the ripe old age of 24, is the longest-tenured member of the team — thanked the fans “for sticking with us through the lockout” and commended them for being the “best fans in the NBA.”

SALT LAKE CITY — Earl Watson, C.J. Miles, Enes Kanter, Josh Howard and Derrick Favors on the floor to start the fourth quarter. A 13-point second-quarter deficit. No Al Jefferson in the lineup.

Factors that seemed to stack the deck against the Jazz actually didn’t, and Utah pulled out a stunning 102-99 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. The Jazz earn mostly high marks while picking up their first victory of the season.

GUARDS: If Devin Harris has proved anything in his time in Utah, it’s that he’s no John Stockton or Deron Williams. He doesn’t play like a true point guard, and tries to be too much of a scorer. Harris, who committed what could have been a game-costing turnover with 13.8 seconds left, got his points though against the 76ers, leading Utah’s guards in scoring with 19 points.

The Jazz got their best true point guard play from Watson, who pushed tempo and moved the ball around. He finished with one more assist than Harris despite playing three fewer minutes. Raja Bell was a forgotten man, playing just 18 minutes. Rookie Alex Burks did not play. Grade: B+

FORWARDS: Paul Millsap had an off shooting night and is taking too many 3-pointers, but played hard like usual and finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Gordon Hayward hit a clutch jumper with 30.2 seconds left to give the Jazz a 101-97 lead, and also made some nice passes in crunch time. Howard played 24 minutes and did a decent job, although he shot just 2-for-6 from the field. Grade: B+

CENTERS: Favors started the game in place of Jefferson at center and looked nothing like the player who struggled against the Lakers and Nuggets. He hit some short-range jumpers and showed off his athleticism near the basket while finishing with 20 points. Kanter provided some valuable minutes. He had four points and six rebounds in 15 minutes. Grade: A-Grade: A-

BENCH: Watson and Miles were Utah’s two most effective players coming off the bench. Utah’s reserves outscored Philadelphia’s 31-29. You can’t ask for much more than your bench beating the other team’s bench. Grade: A-

COACHING: Fans may have wanted to summon a doctor to check Corbin’s temperature when he started the fourth with Watson, Miles, Kanter, Howard and Favors. It was a high-risk, high-reward type of move and it paid off handsomely. Corbin put together other creative lineups during the game, and seemed to make the right changes when he needed to. Grade: A

OVERALL: The Jazz avoided being 0-3 for the first time in 32 years. It wasn’t always pretty, especially in the first half, but they got the job done and gave their fans a reason to stay interested this early in the season. Grade A-