Jazz pull a road no show News Dallas Mavericks

DALLAS ? The Jazz's victory at New Orleans on Sunday was not the start of a trend reversal, and most definitely did not foretell good things to come for a franchise that really could use some. Rather, evidently, it was an anomaly. An aberration.

A blip on the road-trip radar. Because after Wednesday night's 130-101 tail-kicking loss to Dallas ? one in which the Mavericks used a victory over Utah to clinch a playoff berth, their ninth straight, for the second April in a row ? it's clear that the Jazz's propensity for poor performance while on the road against the West's best is the real deal. The defeat was Utah's 10th in 11 away games against the NBA Western Conference's other seven playoff qualifiers, and put the Jazz perilously in danger of a potential 1-8 seed first-round playoff series with the Los Angeles Lakers. "It seemed like they wanted it more," said point guard Deron Williams, who had an 18-point, 12-assist double-double and led the Jazz in scoring on a night all five starters managed double-figures. "The game meant more to them, which is unacceptable ? because this was a big game for us as well." The loss was the Jazz's worst of the season by way of points ? four more than the 25-point margin San Antonio, which Utah visits on Friday night to close out a three-game trip, enjoyed back in November. It also dropped the Jazz into a tie with the Mavs for seventh in the West. Both teams are 47-31, with four games to go in their respective regular seasons and the season series between the two having ended in a 2-2 tie. "It's very disappointing," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said after his club fell for the fourth time in its last five outings. "They beat us all four quarters, all night long," Sloan added. "They were so much quicker. We looked like we'd been on the road for 10 months." But it's only been a few days, and the Jazz even had full ones off ? all of Monday and Tuesday ? before playing Wednesday. "I thought our energy level would be higher than that," Sloan said, "but we really weren't able to put up much of a fight for them. "They just destroyed us. ... They certainly deserved to win, because we weren't any contest for them. ... They had us all night." The Mavs ? who got a game-high 31 points and 12-of-18 field shooting from star Dirk Nowitzki ? led by 11 after an opening quarter that they closed with a 6-0 run. They enjoyed a 9-0 spurt late in the first half to go into the break up 16, 61-45, at sold-out American Airlines Arena ? where Utah is now 2-13 all-time. The Jazz did trim that advantage to as few as nine with a three-point play the old-fashioned way that Williams delivered midway through the third. But Dallas ? which also got off-the-bench contributions of 21 points, including 5-for-9 3-point shooting, from guard Jason Terry and another 18 by backup point J.J. Barea ? closed the quarter with a 12-3 run to head into the fourth with a 19-point lead. "We didn't have the same rhythm we had (Sunday)," Jazz guard Kyle Korver said. "We didn't help each other on defense, and then they started scoring. "They were getting out on the break; we were not getting out on the break," he added. "We're not finding rhythm on offense, and we started to press a little bit. Then we had a terrible stretch at the end of the third, and all of a sudden it's a blowout." Big-time. The Mavs extended their lead to as many as 31 three times in the final quarter, and that's the most Utah has trailed by in any game this season ? one more than in their November loss to the Spurs at San Antonio. "I wish I could explain a lot of things," said Williams, who, hard as he tried, had no answer for this one. "If I could explain it, if I knew the problem that caused it," he added, "maybe we'd be able to turn it around." Western Conference playoff race Record ... GB 1. Lakers ... 62-16 ... ? 2. Nuggets ... 53-26 ... 9 1/2 3. Spurs ... 50-28 ... 12 4. Rockets ... 50-28 ... 12 5. Trail Blazers ... 50-28 12 6. Hornets ... 48-30 ... 14 7. Jazz ... 47-31 ... 15 8. Mavericks ... 47-31 ... 15 *current tiebreakers are reflected in seeding placement. ?E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com