Utah Jazz get back to business as usual

So maybe there is order amid the chaos after all.

The sun still rises in the east, the tides still lap against the shores and the Jazz are up 3-1 in their best-of-seven series with Houston, thanks to Saturday night's 86-82 win.

Exactly as expected.

Except the part where the Jazz take two in Texas and lose one in Utah. And the part where they nearly waste a 16-point, third-quarter lead on Saturday.

Otherwise, it's all there, neatly tied.

After surprising everyone — themselves included — with a two-point loss on Thursday at EnergySolutions Arena, the Jazz got back on course to move into the second round of the playoffs. All it took was some alarming free-throw shooting on Thursday and a considerable improvement on Saturday to realign the planets.

That's the thing that's making the Jazz nervous: Sometimes bad things happen to good teams.

Speaking of good teams, has anyone been keeping track of the Spurs? They're the guys who play a little like the Jazz — except they have rings.

If the Jazz truly want to become an elite team, they should probably start by closely mimicking the defending NBA champions, who are up 3-0 in their series with Phoenix. They know how to put teams away. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich is an unabashed admirer of Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. When Popovich got the Spurs' job in 1997, he set about doing many of the things for which Sloan is noted: physical play, unflinching defense and unrelenting discipline. The results were that under Popovich the Spurs have won four NBA titles.

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

It doesn't hurt to have Tim Duncan on your team, either.

Looks like the hoary old Spurs — or is it Horry? — aren't finished yet.

That's not to say the Jazz have done anything terribly wrong. They did win two in Houston and are now undeniably in charge. Sweeping two games on the road was a wholly unexpected turn of events. Dogged by poor free-throw shooting on Thursday, they made progress two nights later. Carlos Boozer made all eight of his free throw attempts Saturday, to go with 18 rebounds, which in large measure offset his 3-for-13 night from the field.

The Jazz started edging ahead early in the second half, aided by Ronnie Brewer's double-clutch, triple-Salchow, reverse pike shot that went in, giving the Jazz a 12-point lead. That stretched to 16, but the Rockets clawed back within one before it was over.