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.”

The Jazz entered the preseason surrounded by uncertainty.

Utah didn’t have a true No. 1 star player or a late-game closer, its starting five and overall rotation weren’t set, and everything from the team’s identity to its uneven balance of promising youth and 30-something veterans created an endless series of questions.

The Jazz exited exhibition play Wednesday shadowed by even more ambiguity. Now, Utah enters the wild unknown of a lockout-shortened 2011-12 regular season with little, if any, clarity.

Those answers will arrive, Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said after a 92-89 preseason victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at EnergySolutions Arena before a crowd of 15,367.

Utah (1-1) only has six days left to figure itself out. The Jazz tip off for real Tuesday at the Los Angeles Lakers.

One game after sitting his uninspired starters and turning to four players 21 or younger, Corbin took a completely different approach Wednesday. All 13 active Utah players clocked more than 11 minutes, with reserves such as Earl Watson, Jamaal Tinsley and Jeremy Evans receiving larger roles than starters Devin Harris, Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward.

The latter two were plagued by foul trouble. Overall, though, it was a much different coaching tactic than one employed by Portland’s Nate McMillan, who leaned heavily on his first five — four of whom played 29 minutes or more — and used a core rotation of nine players in preparation for the impending start of the regular season.

Determining everything from Utah’s starting five to who will come off the bench is still up for grabs in Jazzland.

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“We’ll look at everything. … We’re working on it,” Corbin said.

Utah’s offense needs the most work. Several players said on-the-court chemistry was a problem during an abbreviated preseason, while key starters acknowledged the Jazz have much to do before they’re playing clean, fluid, fundamental basketball.

Only Al Jefferson, Raja Bell and Harris started both preseason games, while Jefferson and Harris never appeared fully comfortable or energized in Utah’s slightly reworked offense.

The issues were heightened by Paul Millsap’s absence due to right quadriceps tendinitis. Corbin said before the start of Wednesday’s game there’s no guarantee Millsap will be the permanent starter at power forward once he returns, adding to the confusion.

Harris and Jefferson acknowledged the offense isn’t running in high gear, but both said time should fix lingering issues that often rose to the surface during a disappointing 2010-11 season.

“We’ve got new guys in, we’re trying to get to know each other. Obviously it’s going to take a little time,” Harris said. “Obviously we’ve got a couple days of practice [left] and obviously [Corbin’s] still trying to figure out what that rotation is going to be like. But I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

The lack of direction appeared to affect everyone from Hayward (three points in 14 minutes, 49 seconds) and Bell (one point on three shots in 20:34) to Harris, who scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting but only dished out one assist.

“I think we have a lot of work to do,” Bell said. “But I don’t know that we’re going to be any different [than] any other team is at this point in that regard, just because there hasn’t been a whole lot of stuff to get time together.

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By David Smith, For the Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Whether it was overcoming some opening-night jitters, getting a touch more familiar with each other, or simply feeling at home in the comfortable confines of EnergySolutions Arena, the Utah Jazz looked like a different team Wednesday. Utah avenged Monday’s 20-point loss by posting a 92-89 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The fourth quarter, which pitted Portland’s headliners against a ragtag mix of Jazz bench players, produced a dramatic finish. Laced with turnovers and missed shots, Utah did just enough to emerge victorious over the more experienced Blazers squad.

All in all, there was more bounce in Utah’s step, a comforting sight after an extremely abbreviated preseason transitions quickly into Tuesday’s regular-season opener. The offense and defense, while both needing lots of work, flowed more smoothly.

Role reversal: After struggling in Monday’s outing, veterans Mehmet Okur and C.J. Miles fared much better off the bench Wednesday. Okur showed the Jazz what was sorely missed during his injury-plagued 2010-11 year, tallying seven points in an active nine minutes. Meanwhile, Miles had a brilliant 15-point half, scoring on an array of outside shots.

On the flipside, hampered by the foul troubles, sophomores Hayward and Favors both struggled after being inserted into the starting lineup. Hayward had just three points before exiting with his sixth foul. After a stellar 25-point performance Monday, Favors finished with a more pedestrian seven on Wednesday.

Foul situation: With three starters (Raja Bell, Hayward and Favors) tagged with three fouls apiece, the Jazz finished the first quarter with 12 fouls (including several on the offensive end). Combined with the nine fouls accrued by Portland, it made for a very whistle-heavy, flow-stopping start to the game. At one point, with 3:55 left in the opening quarter, Utah had 15 points and 11 fouls. When the dust settled, basketball fans witnessed 66 combined fouls.

Quick hits:

Utah’s shooting guards, longtime vet Raja Bell and rookie Alec Burks, combined to shoot 0-11 from the field.

Newcomers Josh Howard (eight) and Jamaal Tinsley (six) both scored their first points in a Jazz uniform.

With 10 minutes left in the game, forward Jeremy Evans had scored 18 points in 19 minutes of playing time (over the two preseason games) — not including, much to Jazz fans’ chagrin, a crowd-pleasing dunk that was waved off due to an offensive foul call.

SALT LAKE CITY— The Utah Jazz have a preseason dancing partner.

Unfortunately for BYU fans, it is not Jimmer Fredette and the Sacramento Kings.

The Jazz will play a pair of exhibition contests against the Portland Trail Blazers, according to KSL.

Portland, which features former Jazz guard Wesley Matthews, will host Utah on Dec. 19. The two teams will then head to Salt Lake City for a Dec. 21 matchup at EnergySolutions Arena, according to at tweet by Jazz broadcaster David Locke.

Ticket information has not yet been released.

The NBA’s irregular season is set to begin on Dec. 25, though it’s believed the Jazz will start the following day. The original schedule had Utah hosting Denver on Monday, Dec. 26.

The full 66-game schedule has yet to be released, but could be coming this week, according to national reports.

Teams and agents have been allowed to begin discussing player movement, although nothing formal can be agreed upon until Dec. 9, pending ratification of the new collective bargaining agreement.

Players will also be welcome to use team facilities beginning Thursday after being locked out of NBA buildings since July 1.

Email: jody@desnews.comTwitter: DJJazzyJody

SALT LAKE CITY — It’s been a couple of weeks since NBA players and owners sat down together at the bargaining table.

The Utah Jazz helped set up different kinds of tables Wednesday, giving 3,500 people ample reason to be thankful for a much more heartwarming example of a give-and-take situation.

This was the 13th time the Jazz hosted the “We Care — We Share” dinner celebration for the homeless and low-income population of Salt Lake City.

“Of course it warms your heart to be able to help,” Jazz owner Gail Miller said while dishing up meatloaf and cranberry sauce. “But it’s sad that there is such a need, and to see the families that come in just makes me want to cry.”

Utah Food Services literally cooked up tons of food, Jazz front-office personnel and the Miller family helped serve turkey and trimmings, the Salt Lake City Mission invited thousands of people in need, and the sounds and smells of a holiday party permeated the basketball-less building.

As usual, grins and gratitude were abundant.

Players and hoops highlights, however, are nowhere to be found at EnergySolutions Arena because of the lockout.

“It’s a good program and everything,” said retired railroad worker Wilson Pace, a Salt Lake City resident who helps with the Indian Walk-In Center. “I didn’t know if they were going to have one this year or not because of the NBA lockout.”

Thankfully, despite the ongoing NBA labor deal gloom and doom — and an ominous cloud of a possible canceled season looming — this annual festive feast went on.

Though 19,911 basketball seats remain empty every night, on this afternoon hearts and stomachs were filled with appreciation and a charitable meal.

Pace, a grateful recipient of this meal who fondly recalls mingling with the late Larry H. Miller and snapping a shot of Deron Williams serving food, admitted he’s glad they surprised him.

“They’re better cooks than I am,” he said.

The heartwarming event — complete with music, a clothing giveaway, laughter and a spirit of generosity — was a pleasant contrast to what’s been happening elsewhere in the NBA world (or not happening such as, say, negotiating toward a deal).

Instead of working together for the good of the sport and fans — and actually playing the game so many love to watch and depend on for their living — owners and players are battling and grasping for their “fair” split of a $4 billion pie (revenue, not pumpkin).

But for a few hours on this day, the focus wasn’t on current lawsuits or the #unfollownba campaign by fans on Twitter or ex-Jazz guard DeShawn Stevenson blasting union chief Billy Hunter or mixed news about popular NBA players in Europe (from Andrei Kirilenko being injured to Williams scoring 50 in a game).