Harpring fouled Mohammed as the Spurs big man converted a Tony Parker-fed layup on San Antonio's next trip down the floor, and Mohammed made the free throw that followed to complete a three-point play the old-fashioned way.

Even with 1:51 still to go, that sent the masses scurrying up the Delta Center aisles to the exits.

"Those guys know when it comes time to lock up it's time to lock up," said Devin Brown, the ex-Spurs swingman now with Utah. "And that's what they did.

"We were getting wide-open looks . . . and we just weren't putting them in the basket," added Brown, who had just two points in his first game against the Spurs since winning an NBA title ring with them last season. "Against a team like that, you're not going to get much as far as calls, or breaks, or loose balls, so any little thing you can do you have to take advantage of — and we didn't do that."

Whether or not Utah will take advantage of the lesson learned remains to be seen.

Indications, though, are dubious at best.

Asked if it's doom-and-gloom time for the Jazz, who face Denver on Wednesday at the Delta Center in a rematch with the Northwest Division leader that embarrassed them badly just five games ago, Kirilenko did not deny.

"I would say . . . it's kind of hard to predict," he said, recalling a time not long ago when the Jazz had won eight of nine.

"Right now," Kirilenko added, "we are losing lots of basketball games — and we just need to get back and get a win, and start feeling like we can play the same basketball we did a couple of weeks ago."

---

E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com