The calendar crept ever closer to the playoffs, Saturday, as the Jazz moved ever closer to the cliff, thanks to a 118-108 loss to lowly Golden State.

The playoff picture isn't set, yet, except this: It's not one for the scrapbook. By now the Jazz season is starting to look like a scene from a sword fight, where someone ends up clutching their midsection and trying to keep their insides from spilling out.

Sorry for the graphic imagery, but for the last few of weeks they've shown a definite absence of guts. One of the few who has shown guts, Deron Williams, ended up leaving the game in the final minute with a "mildly strained left oblique" and is listed as day to day.

"They're (Golden State) a team that takes a lot of outside shots, but we tried to match and we didn't make them, and kind of got in a little panic situation," said coach Jerry Sloan. "Then we couldn't guard them, which has been a downfall of our team here of late."

What a weird season. They lost Williams to injury at the start, Carlos Boozer through the middle, and various other players in random spots. But because they didn't completely fall apart during Boozer's 45-game absence, and Williams' 12-game absence, and Andrei Kirilenko's 14 absences, they felt they'd be OK. It wasn't until Feb. 23 that their three top scorers, Boozer, Williams and Mehmet Okur appeared in a game together.

"Once we get everybody back, we'll be fine," they said all along.

Yet the Jazz are just 14-10 since then (.583) — the same percentage as they had BEFORE the gang reconvened.

That's not to say the Jazz haven't had issues since February, too. CJ Miles just got back from a layoff due to a dislocated finger. Boozer is still trying to work his way back into top condition. (His defense is still as dreadful as ever.)

Almost every game, you'll see Williams, clutching his knee, ankle, head or hand. Now it's his side that's hurting.

Still, all teams have bumps and bruises down the stretch. Golden State dressed only eight players and was missing both Monta Ellis and Corey Maggettee, Saturday. What have the Jazz been doing about it all? They failed so abysmally in Dallas, this week, that Sloan wondered about their heart. Friday brought another insult — their 23rd straight loss in San Antonio.

Now this — a loss to a team that was 19 games behind them in the standings.

The Jazz's problems aren't in their health, but in their heads.

"I understand. I understand the people who are on this team. I understand who we are," said Sloan. "If I didn't know who we were, maybe I'd go jump off a building."

Translation: Gut-check time.