Winning the regular-season finale obviously wasn't a priority for Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy on Wednesday night. His team had already clinched the homecourt advantage over the Utah Jazz in the first-round of their NBA playoffs, so the game was nothing more than a glorified practice.

That's why Van Gundy decided to hold out his two All-Stars — center Yao Ming and guard Tracy McGrady — despite the fact that both were ready, willing and able to play. Those two normally combine to average 49.6 points, 14.7 rebounds and 8.5 assists.

In addition, veteran center Dikembe Mutombo was held out to rest as well.

Still, Van Gundy seemed upset at his team's play in the 101-91 loss to the Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena.

"They beat us up good," said Van Gundy. "We didn't react the way we would have hoped. They bullied us all over the floor — on the boards and then we lost our poise a little bit."

But what could he have expected without Yao and McGrady in the lineup?

The victory gave the Jazz a 3-1 series win, but with three Rockets mainstays resting and the Jazz starters playing limited minutes, it wasn't exactly a playoff preview.

"Throughout the duration of the year we focus all of our energy on getting (Yao and McGrady) the ball," said Rockets guard Kirk Snyder. "Our offense and our whole team is pretty much set up for those guys."

So without either of the Rockets' best two players on the court, the Rockets naturally struggled at times. Houston is now 1-12 in games where both Yao and McGrady have missed since they became teammates. That doesn't mean the Rockets were satisfied with the 10-point loss, however.

"We've got a lot of work to do," said forward Juwan Howard.

The Rockets are expecting a battle when the playoff begin this weekend in Houston, of course.

"It's going to be a long, tough series," said Rockets forward Shane Battier. "It's too early to make any widespread generalizations about the series, but it's going to be a long, hard-fought one."

Added Howard. "Utah is a very good team. Obviously they've shown that throughout the regular season. They are a very well-coached team. You've got to give Jerry Sloan a lot of credit."

The Rockets finished with a 52-30 mark. They entered Wednesday game on a five-game winning streak, which allowed them to pass the struggling Jazz to earn the home-court advantage in their first-round, best-of-7 series.

"That's only significant if it goes to a Game 7," said Battier of the home-court edge.

The Rockets, to a man, are praising the Jazz players and coaching staff — at least for now.

"(The Jazz) do a lot of things very well," said Van Gundy. "They rebound and are a very good executing team."

And now that the practice game is over, the Rockets and Jazz can make final preparations for when the games start to matter once again this weekend.

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com