OAKLAND, Calif. — Long-suffering Golden State Warriors fans have seen their favorite team fail to make the playoffs an NBA-active-streak-high 12 straight times, and the Warriors went into Monday's game against Utah facing an uphill battle to avoid making it 13.

As unlucky as all that sounds, it almost makes the Jazz's current woes — and they are rather plentiful — pale in comparison.

Unless, that is, you happen to be Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, who has had a multitude of worries on his mind lately — and left here with even more.

That's because Golden State had little trouble beating Utah 126-102 late Monday, marking the Jazz's fourth straight loss, their fifth in their last six games overall and their ninth among their last 10 road outings.

Those are streaks of ineptitude marked by a mountain of maladies that had Sloan — whose Northwest Division-champion club begins postseason play later this month, probably against Houston, which beat Seattle on Monday to take a half-game lead over Utah for homecourt advantage in a probable 4-5 seed first-round series between the teams — quite concerned even before taking to the floor against the Warriors.

"Are we gonna be tough enough to fight back and try to put together a team that's gonna compete when we get to the playoffs?" he wondered. "If we aren't, we're gonna be in and out pretty quick."

And, no, that's not a reference to the IN-N-OUT BURGER chain so popular here in California.

"When you get satisfied in this business, I think that's one of the worst things that can happen to you," Sloan added, perhaps pinpointing what's truly behind the tribulations of a team that's had its first postseason berth in four years clinched for two-plus weeks now.

"You're probably gonna be satisfied just being here 10 years from now, and that's not a good sign."

Bad signs for the Jazz were abundant early Monday as the Warriors went up by as many as 17 points shortly before halftime.

"The Warriors outhustled us all the way around. They went after loose balls, and made us turn the ball over," Sloan said after the Jazz committed a season-worst 25 turnovers, including a season-worst six attributed to forward Matt Harpring. "They did a terrific job at not letting us get a decent shot. They were all over us defensively."

By the time Golden State went into the fourth quarter leading 99-75, it was evident Utah had blown yet another opportunity — four in a row now — against a likely lottery team.

Against Portland last Wednesday, it was because point guard Deron Williams exited early with a groin-strain aggravation, and the Jazz failed to execute on two particular late-game possessions.