"For us, there's one game left and that's (tonight). We win that game, there's one game left after that. And that's how we looked at Houston last year," Boozer said. "We were in the exact same position a year ago. If we can learn anything from that (it's) just to be focused and put everything — all our energy, all our eggs — into (tonight's) game."

The Jazz also dealt with the pressure of needing to win both games in Utah last weekend against the Lakers after losing the first two games in L.A.

"We felt those other two at home were both must-wins as well, so the mindset's the same — stick to the same game plan," Williams said. "I thought we played an excellent game (Wednesday). I thought we executed well. I think our defense can get a little tighter and I think it probably will at home."

And are the Jazz ever glad to be there — where they've posted a lofty 41-5 record this year — for this do-or-die contest.

"It's definitely better being at home facing an elimination game, there's no way around that," Williams said. "We have more confidence at home. Everybody plays better as a whole at home."

The Jazz are hoping to get off to a smoother start in Game 6. They had seven turnovers in each of the first two quarters of Game 5, again putting them in a hole that proved to be a tad too deep.

"It's like we got lost completely to start off," Sloan said. "They got open shots. It looked like they were playing in a pick-up game. We've got to try to take them out of their comfort zone to start off with."

A good start, they believe, could help them force a winner-take-all finale.

"We don't want to go home," Boozer said, obviously referring to players' offseason homes and not EnergySolutions Arena. "Hopefully, we'll play loose, play focused and have a great game. ... We won't be nervous. We'll be very confident (tonight)."

As for the Jazz's film watching, it wasn't all as painful as being forced to sit through a Pauly Shore flick.

"We definitely played better than we did the first two games against them at their place. That's the most promising thing," Williams said. "We had chances to win the game and we were right there till the end.

"We just got to get back and protect home court, get another victory at home and try to go back and win Game 7."

Sloan admitted to taking a bit of a nap during the wee-hour flight, but the coach was glad his players stayed up and watched the game film. Doing things like that, he believes, is necessary "if you want to be a basketball player and want to get better."

"They're young, they're exciting to watch, they're exciting to coach," Sloan added, "but there's still a lot of things you can do to get better."

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E-mail: jody@desnews.com