"That's a pretty tough situation, but that always works itself out," the Jazz coach said of now having three swingmen — Brewer, Miles and Korver — capable of closing at shooting guard.

"Hopefully we don't panic. You don't always make the right decisions," Sloan added. "But ... that's what it should be. Compete for a job, instead of having the job given to you."

Not that anyone new is looking to steal anyone else's job.

"I've got (Miles') back, I've got Ronnie's (Brewer's) back, I've got everybody's back," said Korver, known as a consummate team player in Philadelphia. "And hopefully everybody does the same for me."

Three times after Miles exited to a hug from Korver, and once after Boozer knocked down the second of his two key jumpers, Philadelphia — which got a combined 75 points from starters Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller and Samuel Dalembert — got to within as close as two.

Ten seconds after the final time, Korver was fouled and went to the line for what would ultimately be six freebies in the last 26.1 seconds.

His first visit, however, would end up in disaster as the NBA's leading free-throw shooter from a season ago actually missed one. Perhaps it was only fitting, though, in what Korver called one rather "strange game."

"I apologize for that," Korver, who came into the night 35-of-38 from the line this season, said of his rare miss.

"There was a lot of excitement, a lot of adrenaline, a lot of butterflies and nervousness for tonight's game," he added. "And I'm just glad it's done, and we can move on."

It is, and the Jazz can, though only after Korver knocked down five in a row and helped to ensure that the 76ers — after two makes and three misses during a mad-scramble final 30 seconds — would fall in their fourth outing on a six-game Western swing.

"He missed the one, I think he was surprised as anyone," Sloan, whose Jazz have now won four of their last season, said of Korver. "But he's not afraid to step up. He wanted the basketball. That's the big thing. A lot of guys would run away from it in that situation, but he went to where he would have a chance to get the ball in his hands."

And the Jazz went bowling into January on a winning streak, somewhere they haven't been in a month.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com