No explanation for Jazz defeat

They looked like a team out of postseason contention, a team with no purpose beyond simply playing out what little remains of a now-meaningless regular season.

If the Jazz continue to perform as they did in a 104-89 loss to Charlotte on Wednesday night at the Delta Center, that is precisely what they will be soon.

"It's mind-boggling, you know what I mean?" guard Milt Palacio said.

"To not lay it on the line night-in and night-out is tough," he added after contributing 17 points, the only Jazz bench player to score in double figures. "And just compete. I mean, regardless of the missed shots, if you compete you're in (that) game. And we didn't compete at all."

Even more perplexing than how 27-30 Utah lost is why.

"I don't have an explanation for it," co-captain Matt Harpring said.

"No explanation," Palacio added. "It's very disappointing when you come out so flat, when you're playing for something and those guys over there — I mean, they're a good team, they're gonna play hard, but — they're not playing for anything. They're not playing for a playoff spot, or anything. And we are."

Or are they?

"If you watched this team from the stands," coach Jerry Sloan said, "you'd say it's looking to get the summer started.

"It looks like we'd be happy to see the season end today instead of having a chance to get to the playoffs," he added. "If this team doesn't make the playoffs, it's going to be a really disappointing season."

Especially considering Utah has two losses to the 15-win New York Knicks, and now one to 16-win Charlotte.

The Bobcats, consider, were all but begging to be beat.

They'd won just 15 of 58 games coming in. They were in the fifth outing of a six-game western road trip. And they had lost seven of their previous eight.

The Jazz, meanwhile, had every reason in the world to want to win.

Granted, second-leading scorer and rebounder Andrei Kirilenko was out with back spasms.

Still, they were coming off what should have been an inspiring overtime victory at Golden State on Monday night. The eighth and final playoff position in the NBA's Western Conference is within reach, despite their follies — five losses now in their last seven games — of late. And they still have something of a shot, though it seems to be fading fast, at catching Denver for the Northwest Division lead.