Utah Jazz lack of energy puzzling

SAN ANTONIO — Lately they've looked drained, physically and mentally.

So after they lost for the fourth time in their last five games, and for a fourth time during that span in rather inexplicably disinterested fashion, coach Jerry Sloan rather pointedly questioned the focus of his tail-spinning Jazz.

And the mindset.

And — to a degree, for all practical purposes, though not dropping the actual word — the heart.

"That's something I certainly wonder about: What we're doing with ourselves to try to be ready to play," Sloan said when asked how the Jazz could play so well in last Sunday's victory at New Orleans, only to have so much go so wrong in Wednesday night's 130-101 loss at Dallas.

"I've been around guys a long time in this league, and the guys that are good all the time — they prepare themselves," he added. "They're ready to go. And we haven't had that on the road. It's really very disappointing."

The 47-31 Jazz's road woes this season have been about as well-chronicled as can be.

But, to review:

With just four regular-season games still to be played — two away from home, including tonight's visit with postseason-bound San Antonio — they're 15-24 when not playing at EnergySolutions Arena.

That means this is a fourth straight season in which the Jazz, who are 32-7 at home this season, have lost anywhere from 15 to 20 on the road.

They're also 1-10 against the other seven playoff-qualified NBA Western Conference clubs, with the possibility for finishing 1-12 — Utah closes its season Tuesday night against the Lakers in Los Angeles, after a pair at home against Golden State on Saturday night and the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night — quite realistic.

It's all rather baffling to Sloan, who felt the energy level of the Mavericks by far trumped that of the Jazz.

"I don't follow 'em around," he said, "but we had a lot of guys just very low on energy.

"They came at us," the Jazz coach said. "They saw it was a big game, and I just thought we looked like we saw it as just another trip to the arena."

Even more dispiriting for Sloan was that Utah squandered yet another opportunity to rise in the standings, just like they did with key Northwest Division losses at Portland and Denver last week — not to mention Friday night's home-court upset at the hands of Minnesota.