The Jazz come to play against teams that presumably can play against them, but lately they don't always show up for the also-rans.
It's a trend that could bode well for Utah in the playoffs, but these days it's the stuff that prompts coaches to tug at their hair.
Jerry Sloan's strands were neat as can be Thursday night when the Jazz handily disposed of playoff-bound Phoenix in a 105-85 laugher at the Delta Center. But Sloan might want to tie his hands tonight, when Utah visits struggling Golden State — losers of 18 of its last 19 — in the second half of a back-to-back set.
"Hopefully (tonight) we'll come out with the same enthusiasm as we did (Thursday night) and the same focus," said Olden Polynice, a center of attention against the Suns. "We've had a tendency to play well against good teams, and when we go and play against a team like Golden State, with injuries and not a good record, we kind of slack off. Hopefully it won't happen."
Breaking the trend, which includes recent losses to non-postseason qualifiers Dallas and Denver, would merely mark a continuation of things going as the Jazz have hoped.
On top of their win Thursday, which extends their Midwest Division lead over defending NBA champion San Antonio to 4 1/2 games, the Jazz also enjoyed Vancouver's upset victory over Portland on Thursday, which allows Utah (51-23) to pull to with 2 1/2 games of the Trail Blazers in the race for second-best record in the league behind the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers.
With the Blazers in town on Monday, it's conceivable Utah could soon pass Portland. But first they had to get by Phoenix.
The Jazz did it behind a 14-rebound, 12-point effort from Polynice, who recorded season-highs in both categories — without even playing in the fourth quarter. Utah also got a game-high 19 points from Karl Malone, whose 24 minutes (all also coming in the first three quarters) marked the second-fewest he has played this season.
The Jazz really didn't need those two in the fourth, not after extending a 5-point halftime lead (50-45) to 20 by outscoring the Suns 27-12 in the third.
Polynice pulled down seven of his 14 rebounds in the decisive third, a period that opened with a fastbreak layup from Bryon Russell, who finished with 11 points as the Jazz ran a bit more than usual, and a layup and free throw from Polynice, who acted surprised himself that his toss-it-up-anyway shot fell after he was hacked charging down the lane.
Less than a minute later Jeff Hornacek added a funky scoop shot of his own, then nailed a trademark 3-pointer to end a quarter-opening 10-0 run and give the Jazz a 15-point lead that would grow to as high as 26 before game's end.
While Malone provided the most points, wincing a few more times when pushing off on his apparently still-gimpy right ankle, the Jazz got contributions from several other sources.
Hornacek finished with 12 points. John Stockton had five steals. Howard Eisley had a season-high 13 assists off the bench, and reserve forward Armen Gilliam chipped in another 14 points. Rookie swingman Quincy Lewis got into the act, too, scoring all 8 of his points during a short second-quarter spurt.
As usual, though, it wasn't numbers like those that Sloan spoke of when doling credit for the win.
It was — duh — defense.
"I think the most important things is we've come together as a team defensively in this stretch," said Sloan, whose club has now won 17 of its last 20 games and 24 of its last 29.
"We're really not good enough to out man-on-man and just beat people," Stockton chimed. "But if we're aggressive defensively and work with each other, that's our only chance."
As for Phoenix, their only chance Thursday — especially with Jason Kidd (ankle surgery), Tom Gugliotta (knee surgery) and Rex Chapman (appendectomy) all out — was for a mid-game collapse from Utah.
But with the Jazz still respecting Phoenix as a playoff-bound team, and remembering how tough two close victories over the Suns were earlier this season, it was not to happen on this night.
"I thought we really came out and played well from the beginning to the end," said Polynice, who, like Malone these days, favors the bald look. "That was one of the few nights when we didn't have a four-minute lapse. It was like, 'Oh, that was pretty good.' "
Now the goal is to do the same against a team like Golden State.
"We still have lapses against teams that are sub-par," Gilliam said. "But I think the better games are games like tonight, when we go out and play like we're capable of playing.
"We have to be consistent, night in, night out," Gilliam added. "Regardless of the opposition, we have to play our type of game. If we do that, we'll be going into the playoffs a sharper team. It's just human nature that when you play bad teams you play kind-of down to their level, but at this point we need to crank it up to the point of going to the playoffs with a lot of confidence."
And a lot of hair, for those who still have some.