Utah Jazz Extra: The five wins the Jazz got away with

With the West's wild race for the Lakers' bridesmaid spot, it's easy to focus on wins that got away from the Jazz. (Yes, the Land of 10,000 Lakes is now considered a four-letter word.) They've had come-back-to-haunt-'em losses, sure. But what about the ones they got away with? Imagine where the Jazz might be (fishing Friday?) without these five wouldn'ts, shouldn'ts, couldn'ts but dids:

5. Bringing down the Thunder (hit it, AC/DC!)

Just last week, Kevin Durant squeezed really hard and made Utah cough up a 13-point lead with less than 5 minutes to go. The Jazz even trailed with five seconds left in OT. (Ramble: What's up with the ESA playing that hard-rock "Thunder" song with OKC in town anyway? Doesn't that kinda fire up the opponent with that same nickname?) Anyway, Deron Williams then drilled a go-ahead jumper with 1.1 seconds left. Two major things happened after that: (1) The Thunder, still pumped after hearing their theme song in Utah, were able to advance the ball three-quarters up the court without using any time thanks to one of the lamest rules in sports; and (2) Everybody, except Jazz fans and the referees, freaked out about C.J. Miles giving Durant a mid-air high five at the end of the hard-fought game. The 140-139 win was a big "Whew!" one for Utah.

4. Sweeping changes made in San Antonio

Nov. 5 was a "monumental" day. That's how Carlos Boozer described it after a home win over the Spurs, and who's to argue with a Duke guy? OK, besides a Tar Heel? The Jazz followed that 113-99 win with an even more MONUMENTAL!!! 90-83 victory at San Antonio on Nov. 19. That was the first time they dialed up a win at the AT&T Center (bad pun intended) and their first win in San Antonio since 1999. Two more unexpected notches in the wins column: Utah rallied from 15 down to beat the Spurs 104-101 on Dec. 7, and the Jazz earned their second-ever San Antonio sweep with yet another road W (105-98) in January.

3. Razing Arizona: A two-for-Suns special

Jazz fans thoroughly enjoyed two wins that are considered among the darn-ones-that-slipped-away in similar stories in Arizona. Rally No. 1: On Jan. 25, the Jazz trailed Phoenix by 17 at home until "Bad News Bears" pitcher/Phoenix point guard got his fourth foul, and Utah went all Suns on the Suns. The Jazz scored the final dozen points of the third and used a 17-3 surge in the fourth for a better-show-up-late-than-never 124-115 win. Rally No. 2: Utah stunned the Suns with another fourth-quarter double-digit comeback when Deron Williams had 13 points in the final period to help erase a 13-point deficit in a 116-108 win in Phoenix on March 4. In other words: Don't panic Wednesday if Utah falls behind early — it might just be strategy.