After being eliminated by them in the first round of each of the past two NBA postseasons, perhaps it is understandable if the Jazz seemed somewhat intimidated by the Sacramento Kings.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan even took that assertion one step further.
After watching Sacramento beat Utah 118-110 on Wednesday night, marking the 6-6 Jazz's first loss in the Delta Center this season, Sloan suggested he might know why his young, rebuilding club felt like it did.
"To me," Sloan said, "it looked like we were a great-deal intimidated — and rightfully so, because this is a great team, and they (the Kings) are very clever with how they play, and they just pick you apart."
Still, that doesn't make it acceptable to a perfectionist like Sloan.
"We played a soft game out there," the Jazz coach said. "If we can't compete harder than we did, we won't win another game."
All that said, though, the Jazz did hang close with the Kings right down to the end.
"It was a winnable game," forward Andrei Kirilenko said.
"It's disappointing," Jazz captain Matt Harpring added, "because we could have won the game. But we didn't — bottom line."
The Jazz never did lead, but they were within one with just more than seven minutes to go in the third quarter, when starting point guard Carlos Arroyo missed a free throw that would have tied the game.
Sacramento led the rest of the way, but Utah was within six points three times in the game's final 1:31, the last time when a DeShawn Stevenson dunk made it 116-110 with 23 seconds to go.
Arroyo immediately fouled Kings game-high scorer Peja Stojakovic, but he knocked down the two free throws that resulted, capping his 30-point, seven-rebound night that included 14-of-16 shooting from the line.
With that, Sacramento beat Utah for the 10th time in the last 11 regular-season meetings between the teams — despite getting a fight fully expected.
"(I was) not surprised with how well the Jazz played," said Kings coach Rick Adelman, a one-time Jazz player himself.
"I mean, they won five games here (in the Delta Center) against four pretty good teams (and Orlando), and they have been playing well," Adelman added. "It doesn't surprise me. I have always felt that there is no better coach in our league than Jerry Sloan."
Adelman was not alone with his praise.
"They have a pretty young team, great coach, and they play hard," Stojakovic said. "They are going to come out still under control, still (playing) nice basketball."
"I like the way they play," veteran Kings center Vlade Divac added. "They play hard — same style of Jazz basketball. Jerry is a great coach, and there is a nice future for this team."
Even if the results haven't shown it, the Kings were reminded of just how hard Sloan-coached clubs played in each of the 19 times the two faced off over the last two seasons, a span that includes nine playoff games.
"He (Sloan) has got these guys playing hard and running their stuff," Adelman said. "We knew that we were going to be in for a battle."
Sacramento's frustration was particularly evident in the fourth quarter, when sixth man Bobby Jackson was tossed on two quick technicals by referee Gary Zielinski with 4:24 to go.
Jackson was upset about being called for fouling Arroyo, and after all the free throws that resulted — two made by Arroyo, who finished with a team-high 25 points, and two by Kirilenko, who had 22 on a night all five Utah starters scored in double figures — Sacramento's lead was trimmed to just five, 105-100.
But Mike Bibby hit a jumper 18 seconds later, Stevenson was called for an offensive foul on Utah's next possession, Brad Miller followed with a jumper of his own, Stevenson missed a 22-footer and Kings sub Darius Songaila converted a layup to make it 111-100 Sacramento with 2:29 remaining.
After weathering the three brief Jazz flurries that got it down to six down the stretch, Sacramento — which shot an impressive 58 percent (40-of-69) from the field — had improved to 7-4.
And Utah, which has four games still to go in a six-game homestand, was left to regroup.
"We've got a lot to learn," Sloan said, "and, hopefully, we can — to try to be able to play against a team like this."
An intimidating team, that is.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com