No, said Williams. Shouldn't have let it get that close.

Yes, said Sloan.

"Yeah, I think there certainly is," Sloan said. "We had a couple turnovers but not as many as we've had, plus you make shots. That solves all the sins in basketball."

Gordan Giricek — playing at small forward instead of his usual guard spot because Matt Harpring was out with a stomach virus and Andrei Kirilenko left the game with a slight concussion at 5:51 of the second quarter — hit a 19-footer to make it 83-80.

Williams made two baskets, Giricek made a 3 and Okur one of his patented late-game 3s, and Utah went up by nine. After a Boozer tip and another Okur 3, Utah was up by 12.

"I told them not to miss any shots," Sloan deadpanned. "No. I'd be lying if I said that."

Much of the late rally was because Williams was finding the right man for the shot, said Sloan.

"We executed and got the kind of shots that Memo has made, and Deron made a couple of shots," Sloan said.

"We had the ball in our best ballhandler's hands, and he found the guy that he obviously felt had the best shot to take, and that's what basketball is about."

The Clippers, now 1-30 all-time in Salt Lake, were not pleased at missing some shots on which they apparently thought they were fouled, especially Cuttino Mobley on one shot.

"I'm shooting the ball, and it's that short?" he said. "But whatever. Yeah, Fisher is the one that grabbed my arm. (The official) didn't see it, but they call the other stuff. I don't like that."

"They have great technique," Clipper coach Mike Dunleavy said of the Jazz's getting away with what he considered fouls. He vowed he'd study the film and "get our guys to copy it."

So perhaps they can learn from each other.

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E-mail: lham@desnews.com