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 — 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

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.”

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

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.”

DENVER — The Pepsi Center hoops appeared to be bigger than the ones at Staples Center.

Unfortunately for the Utah Jazz, that went both ways.

A night after their offense was nowhere to be found in a lopsided loss against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Jazz hit some shots and scored just fine.

But their defense disappeared.

Rotations, team help, effort and any chance at winning all evaporated in the thin Mile High air on Wednesday night, too.

The result was another embarrassing 117-100 blowout — this one by the Denver Nuggets.

“We have to get better. … We’ve had two tough losses,” said Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin, whose team lost by an average 21 points in back-to-back nights. “We’ve got to get back together and continue to work and fight. We’ve got to learn to trust each other on the defensive end of the floor and get it figured out.”

Utah did hit 48 percent of its field goals in Denver’s building after missing a whopping 61 shots while shooting 32 percent against the Lakers in an awful offensive showing, so there’s that.

But Denver had its way with Utah’s restructured defense, which resembled a church-ball team.

The Jazz gave up 68 points in the paint, allowed Nene to score 25 points, watched Andre Miller dish out 12 assists and Al Harrington drop in 18 points off the bench, cranked their necks as speedy Ty Lawson burst to the hoop time after time, helplessly permitted the Nuggets to shoot a sizzling 53.5 percent, and let the home track team run and jump all over, around and above them.

That was one long paragraph — and an even longer night — for a deficient defense.

Giving up lobs, drives, backdoor cuts and transition baskets disgusted Corbin.

“That’s unacceptable,” he said. “That’s just effort. That’s disappointing.”

The second-year coach had a longer-than-usual postgame chat with his team, taking an extra 10 minutes or so to try to impress on them the need to play harder and together.

Sure, they’re a work in progress. They’ve got an odd mix of inexperienced talent and capable veterans. But they lack an identity and consistency, with the offense and defense trading turns at stinking it up.

“We’ve got to get things figured out quickly,” Corbin said. “The effort we got for the most part today wasn’t satisfactory, so we wanted to have a discussion about it.”

Things started somewhat promising for Utah, which is in the midst of a rough six-games-in-eight-nights stretch.

Center Al Jefferson scored 10 of his team-best 19 points in the first quarter after missing 14 of 16 shots against the Lakers. But Utah’s starting five of Devin Harris, Raja Bell, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Big Al still didn’t completely click, falling behind 28-23 after the first 12 minutes.

SALT LAKE CITY — Back in the early 1960s, or about 20-30 years before most members of this Utah Jazz team were even born, there was this great television series called “Route 66.”

The TV show was about a couple of young men, Tod and Buz (and later a dude they called Linc for the series’ final season), two buddies who spent their time traveling around the country. They moved in and out of the lives of people, helping them deal with their various adversities as this Corvette-cruising couple of guys passed through various cities throughout America along “Route 66.”

Well, the Utah Jazz have their own version of “Route 66″ — an arduous schedule of 66 regular-season games, crammed into a four-month time frame because of the NBA owners’ lengthy lockout that essentially wiped out almost all of the preseason and most of the first two months of what would’ve been the 2011-12 regular season.

Much like those two young men back in the ’60s, the Jazz will be playing “Route 66″ as they’ll visit a couple-dozen cities among their 33 road games, most of them with just enough time to check into a hotel, go to the arena for shootaround, play the game that night and then quickly head for their next destination.

And now, instead of playing 82 games in a season stretching over almost six months, NBA teams will play 66 games in four months’ time. If you do the math, it only comes down to an average of about three more games a month than what they’ve typically played in the past. That may not sound like much, but it’s a schedule that offers them less rest, less time to bounce back between games, less time to recover from injuries and less time to prepare for the next opponent.

But on this “Route 66″ — a wild and rugged journey the Jazz hope will lead them to the NBA playoffs — there will no doubt be a few bad bumps and chuckholes in the road, maybe a blown tire or two, and plenty of need for a rest stop whenever they can find one. Don’t be surprised if they run outta gas along the way, too, maybe more than once.

And these guys won’t be able to call AAA for any roadside assistance, either.

“We want to compete as hard as we can every night we step on the floor,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. “Everything else will take care of itself.”

That seems to be the team mantra this season — come out and compete every night of the season because, with this team of role players and no real superstars to speak of, they can’t afford to take nights off.

SALT LAKE CITY — One question has been asked almost every day since the Utah Jazz began training camp 17 days ago.

Where in the heck is Kyrylo Fesenko?

OK, not really.

The popular question this preseason: What is the starting lineup?

The Jazz had Christmas Day off, but second-year coach Tyrone Corbin addressed that question again at his Christmas Eve practice. (Warning: He will again today, too.)

“We’re closer,” Corbin said. “We have a pretty good idea of who are starters will be.”

One possible starter was taken out of the mix when Mehmet Okur was traded.

Another potential first-five guy returned to practice this weekend. Paul Millsap, last year’s starting power forward, came back “full strength” after missing a week with right quadriceps tendinitis.

So will Millsap start?

Corbin’s answer: Maybe, maybe not.

He won’t reveal starters until today or possibly Tuesday.

For what it’s worth, the five players who began Wednesday’s preseason game against Portland were on the floor together when the Jazz began practice Saturday with a zone defense refresher.

That group included point guard Devin Harris, shooting guard Raja Bell, small forward Gordon Hayward, power forward Derrick Favors and center Al Jefferson .

Corbin admitted he’s slightly envious of teams that have obvious starting fives, but the Jazz have so many new players and possibilities, he’s wanted to evaluate as many combinations as possible before committing.

He also makes the point that his rotations and starters might change to exploit various match-ups, whether for size or speed.

“We want to get guys as comfortable as we can as soon as we can,” Corbin said. “We don’t want to play tricks and trick ourselves, but we want to take advantage of all of the talent we have on the team. … We expect (everybody) to be ready and be ready to play.”

Email: jody@desnews.com

Twitter: DJJazzyJody

SALT LAKE CITY — Much, much better.

Two days after they struggled and stumbled and had some fans worried they might go 0-66 this season, the Utah Jazz bounced back from their pummeling in Portland.

Heck, the Jazz were so much better in Wednesday’s 92-89 exhibition win over the Trail Blazers than they were two days earlier even a charge looked like it might’ve been the greatest offensive foul in franchise history.

“I think we came out with a different mentality tonight,” Jazz point guard Devin Harris said. “The last game we came out sluggish and slow and I thought we just (started) the game with more energy tonight.”

The Jazz’s 23-point turnaround verifies that claim.

Even so, Utah was far from perfect.

The offense, which struggled to 41.3 percent shooting, still needs fine-tuning.

The defense was superb in the final 36 minutes and stifled Portland into hitting just over a third of its shots, but Utah’s new scheme gave up another 30-point opening quarter.

And foul problems plagued three of the Jazz’s starters, with Raja Bell, Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors all being whistled three times in the first quarter.

“We came out (and) we were aggressive,” Hayward said. “We hit them first, played a lot better down the stretch. We definitely still have to improve.”

The Jazz now have five days to work out some kinks before beginning the 2011-12 season Tuesday in Los Angeles against the Lakers.

In an effort to find the most effective player combinations, Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin altered the opening lineup after he was disgusted with Monday’s effort.

With Paul Millsap still out with right quadriceps tendinitis, Favors got the starting nod at power forward over Mehmet Okur. And Hayward replaced Miles as a starter, with Harris, Al Jefferson and Bell rounding out the first five.

That opening unit didn’t exactly click, even falling behind 28-19.

“We’ve got new guys and we’re still trying to get to know each other,” said Harris, who had 10 points, two turnovers and just one assist. “It’s going to take a bit of time. “(Coach) is still trying to get the rotation, but we are moving in the right direction.”

The Jazz found life off of the bench, especially from C.J. Miles in the opening half, and turned things around after the slow start.

Miles scored a team-high 17 points, including two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining that were as clutch as preseason foul shots can be.

Jefferson rebounded from his quiet exhibition opener, notching 15 points and nine rebounds. Jeremy Evans (nine points), Josh Howard (eight points), Okur (seven points) and Jamaal Tinsley (six points, six boards and three assists) each contributed nicely in reserve roles.

“I thought everybody did a great job,” Corbin said.

SALT LAKE CITY — Much, much better.

Two days after they struggled and stumbled and had some fans worried they might go 0-66 this season, the Utah Jazz bounced back from their pummeling in Portland.

Heck, the Jazz were so much better in Wednesday’s 92-89 exhibition win over the Trail Blazers than they were two days earlier even a charge looked like it might’ve been the greatest offensive foul in franchise history.

“I think we came out with a different mentality tonight,” Jazz point guard Devin Harris said. “The last game we came out sluggish and slow and I thought we just (started) the game with more energy tonight.”

The Jazz’s 23-point turnaround verifies that claim.

Even so, Utah was far from perfect.

The offense, which struggled to 41.3 percent shooting, still needs fine-tuning.

The defense was superb in the final 36 minutes and stifled Portland into hitting just over a third of its shots, but Utah’s new scheme gave up another 30-point opening quarter.

And foul problems plagued three of the Jazz’s starters, with Raja Bell, Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors all being whistled three times in the first quarter.

“We came out (and) we were aggressive,” Hayward said. “We hit them first, played a lot better down the stretch. We definitely still have to improve.”

The Jazz now have five days to work out some kinks before beginning the 2011-12 season Tuesday in Los Angeles against the Lakers.

In an effort to find the most effective player combinations, Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin altered the opening lineup after he was disgusted with Monday’s effort.

With Paul Millsap still out with right quadriceps tendinitis, Favors got the starting nod at power forward over Mehmet Okur. And Hayward replaced Miles as a starter, with Harris, Al Jefferson and Bell rounding out the first five.

That opening unit didn’t exactly click, even falling behind 28-19.

“We’ve got new guys and we’re still trying to get to know each other,” said Harris, who had 10 points, two turnovers and just one assist. “It’s going to take a bit of time. “(Coach) is still trying to get the rotation, but we are moving in the right direction.”

The Jazz found life off of the bench, especially from C.J. Miles in the opening half, and turned things around after the slow start.

Miles scored a team-high 17 points, including two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining that were as clutch as preseason foul shots can be.

Jefferson rebounded from his quiet exhibition opener, notching 15 points and nine rebounds. Jeremy Evans (nine points), Josh Howard (eight points), Okur (seven points) and Jamaal Tinsley (six points, six boards and three assists) each contributed nicely in reserve roles.

“I thought everybody did a great job,” Corbin said.