"The turnovers we had, and the shot selection we had, was just like we never played with each other," Sloan said. "And when we did take the ball to the basket, we couldn't get to the free-throw line. I mean, (the Bobcats) shot 21 free throws in the fourth quarter — and we go to the basket a little bit, (but) we can't get to the free-throw line."

Asked if he thought the Jazz's bigger woes were on the floor or in their heads, Sloan hedged.

"A lot of it has to do both ways," he said. "We're turning the ball over, and it's pretty much a repeat of what we've had in the last few games. We've had the games pretty much under control, and then we have three possessions (when) we turn the ball over. They go to a zone defense, and our offense just panicked. We couldn't throw it away fast enough."

After Charlotte reeled off its aforementioned 13-0 run, one during which the Jazz committed two turnovers and missed three shots, an exchange of successful possessions left the Bobcats up 89-88 with three minutes left.

The Jazz came up dry on their next four trips down-court, including one Boozer turnover, one traveling call on Ronnie Brewer, a missed jumper by Boozer and, the capper, Gerald Wallace's picture-perfect block of a Brewer fastbreak dunk attempt.

"It was my fault," Boozer said. "I didn't do a good job of leading my team down the stretch, and I take responsibility. I probably threw the ball away too much, and was a little indecisive on a couple shots."

But don't discount the Jazz's inability to bust Charlotte's simple zone.

"We tried to make a couple plays happen, probably over-passed too much," Boozer said.

"We're definitely too tentative," Williams added. "Sometimes we (shoot) when we're supposed to pass, pass when we're supposed to shoot. We're just crumbling a little bit down the stretch of games."

The fix?

"You've got to learn how to play in those situations," Sloan said.

"I'd still stay with the same people, probably, but I would expect us to hopefully make better decisions with the basketball to give yourself a chance to win," the Jazz coach added. "We got so panicky we didn't run any time off the (shot) clock. We were really in a panic right off the bat as we came down the stretch. I mean, it was contagious. It wasn't just one guy. It was everyone."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com