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.

Tyrone Corbin is becoming more comfortable with each passing game.

The Jazz coach has not hesitated to make noticeable moves, such as starting Derrick Favors and temporarily benching C.J. Miles. And when Corbin’s been forced to challenge a player via a tough in-game conversation — he’s already pushed Devin Harris and Miles, among others — the second-year leader has not hesitated.

Asked about learning just how far he can push his young, rebuilding team, Corbin paused before saying, “It’s not a set thing.”

“You wish guys would go out and do the right thing all the time and that I would do the right thing all the time,” said Corbin, prior to Utah’s home game Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks. “It’s just a thing where things happen and you have to respond to it. If a guy’s struggling, you have to encourage him. If a guy’s not giving effort, you have to push him. So that’s just a part of the business, man.”

No Ute

Former University of Utah star center Andrew Bogut was a late scratch Tuesday and didn’t play for Milwaukee due to personal reasons.

“It’s a personal situation and he’s excused to go and deal with it,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said before tipoff.

Story continues below

He added: “I really don’t want to say anything more … out of respect to Andrew.”

Bogut, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft, is averaging 14.3 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

He drew praise from Corbin and Utah center Al Jefferson during a Tuesday morning shootaround.

“He’s a versatile player who can really pass the ball, who can make moves in the low post,” Corbin said. “His game has continued to get better.”

Jefferson added: “Bogut’s a special player. … I love playing against him because he makes me step up.”

No leader

Six Jazz games have been played and Corbin still hasn’t named a team captain.

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Tyrone Corbin is becoming more comfortable with each passing game.

The Jazz coach has not hesitated to make noticeable moves, such as starting Derrick Favors and temporarily benching C.J. Miles. And when Corbin’s been forced to challenge a player via a tough in-game conversation — he’s already pushed Devin Harris and Miles, among others — the second-year leader has not hesitated.

Asked about learning just how far he can push his young, rebuilding team, Corbin paused before saying, “It’s not a set thing.”

“You wish guys would go out and do the right thing all the time and that I would do the right thing all the time,” said Corbin, prior to Utah’s home game Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks. “It’s just a thing where things happen and you have to respond to it. If a guy’s struggling, you have to encourage him. If a guy’s not giving effort, you have to push him. So that’s just a part of the business, man.”

No Ute

Former University of Utah star center Andrew Bogut was a late scratch Tuesday and didn’t play for Milwaukee due to personal reasons.

“It’s a personal situation and he’s excused to go and deal with it,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said before tipoff.

Story continues below

He added: “I really don’t want to say anything more … out of respect to Andrew.”

Bogut, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft, is averaging 14.3 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

He drew praise from Corbin and Utah center Al Jefferson during a Tuesday morning shootaround.

“He’s a versatile player who can really pass the ball, who can make moves in the low post,” Corbin said. “His game has continued to get better.”

Jefferson added: “Bogut’s a special player. … I love playing against him because he makes me step up.”

No leader

Six Jazz games have been played and Corbin still hasn’t named a team captain.

Next Page »

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