"I don't think they lost any of their aura," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Wednesday, "but that spell is broken."

Those two losses in particular loom large as the Jazz try to recapture the confidence and energy with which they so often play at home. They will host the Lakers in Thursday's Game 3 of their first-round playoff series knowing full well what another loss would mean.

No team in NBA history has overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series. The Jazz went 37-4 at home last season, but Deron Williams offered an honest assessment when asked if the Jazz are as good a home team now.

"Probably not with those last couple games," Williams said. "We're still a pretty good home team, we just had a couple slip-ups late in the season."

For all the talk about Utah being the toughest place to play in the NBA, the Lakers actually posted a better home record this season at 36-5. The Jazz's home record was tied with Denver and Houston for the league's fifth-best.

As much as they have tried not to look back, the Jazz cannot escape those losses to a lottery-bound Minnesota team that had gone 4-21 since losing Al Jefferson to a knee injury and a seven-man Golden State team missing its four leading scorers.

"We're playing much better Basketball right now than we were those last two games," Kyle Korver said. 'That wasn't us. I don't know what was going on in those games. I think we're excited to be home now. I think we're going to play a whole lot better."

The Jazz did beat the Lakers in their only trip to Utah this season, 113-109 on Feb. 11, but the Lakers ended the Jazz's 19-game home winning streak last season and eliminated them in Game 6 of last year's conference semifinals.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said he thought his team had been as good at home as last season when injuries were taken into consideration. The Minnesota and Golden State losses also came in the course of two stretches of four games in five nights for the Jazz.

"I think our fans will give us a lift there and give us a little boost," Sloan said, "but they can't run the floor for us."

As he answered questions before practice, Korver ticked through the factors that make the Jazz a good home team. They feed off the crowd, play a more rough-and-tumble game and take the court -- for whatever reason -- with more energy than on the road.

There's also the altitude, which can lead to tired legs on those fourth-quarter jumpers. Korver didn't mention it, but the Jazz benefited from the schedule as well, catching teams 12 times on the second game of a back-to-back set between January and March.

The numbers tell the story of a team that couldn't be more different home and away. The Jazz gave up 95.5 points a game on 45.7 percent shooting at home, compared with 106.3 points on 47 percent shooting on the road.

"The good thing about our team is at home, somehow, we always play faster, we get more steals, some of the young guys have more confidence," Carlos Boozer said. "We're a better defensive team all around at home."

rsiler@sltrib.com Home-court advantage?

Although EnergySolutions Arena is widely considered the toughest place to play in the NBA, the Jazz's home record this season was only tied for fifth-best.

Rank Team Record

1. Cleveland 39-2

2. L.A. Lakers 36-5

3. Boston 35-6

4. Portland 34-7

5. Denver 33-8

5. Houston 33-8

5. Jazz 33-8