The Timberwolves (22-54) had dropped nine straight road games, yet dealt the Jazz their first home loss since Jan. 27. Now the Jazz must turn around and leave this afternoon for a three-game trip to New Orleans, Dallas and San Antonio.

"Needless to say, it was a real tough loss," assistant coach Phil Johnson said. "It's been a tough week for us. I knew this would be a tough game. I told people, our coaches and our team, as a matter of fact, these are tough games.

"You're playing people that really don't have much pressure on them. You're playing against a team that's free and easy, and we've got pressure on us -- we've got to make the playoffs, we've got to win some games."

Playing their fourth game in five nights, the Jazz gave back leads of 15 points in the second quarter, 10 points at halftime and four points in the final three minutes, falling to 3-16 in the second game of back-to-back sets as a result.

Deron Williams carried the Jazz with 34 points and 11 assists -- even banking in a running three-pointer as part of a four-point play to end the third quarter -- but missed a potential winning jumper in the closing seconds.

Williams had his jersey grabbed by Kevin Ollie as he tried to get free on an inbounds play with 2.3 seconds left and thought he drew contact from both Ollie and Mike Miller as he missed an 18-footer but heard no whistle.

"It's just bad loss, man," Williams said. "Regardless of what time we got in or how many games it was in five nights, it's just a bad loss."

The Jazz led 95-91 with 2:56 to play, but crumbled down the stretch. Ryan Gomes (25 points) hit a jumper ,and Miller went crashing into Kyle Korver for a three-point play; Korver tried to draw a charge but had his feet in the restricted area.

Rodney Carney (25 points) tipped in the miss after Gomes heaved a three-pointer with the shot clock running out, then buried a three-pointer from the corner to give Minnesota a 101-98 lead heading into the final minute.

"We really couldn't get stops defensively, bottom line, when we really needed them the last six minutes of the game," said Johnson, who filled in with Jerry Sloan attending a funeral in McLeansboro, Ill.

Miller got free for a 22-footer with 32.9 seconds left to make it 103-100, with Williams driving for a layup to answer. Trailing by one with 27.2 seconds to play, the Jazz opted not to foul and got the miss they needed on a Gomes three-pointer.

They called a timeout with 2.3 seconds left, but Williams couldn't connect and the Jazz (46-30) squandered the chance to move two games ahead of eighth-place Dallas, which lost at Memphis.

The Jazz are now 32-7 at home and will have to make up for Friday's loss on the road, where they are 0-11 against the Western Conference's other playoff contenders, including losses at Portland and Denver this week.

"We we're definitely expected to win," said Korver, who scored 19 points, "but now we know it's not just a gimme because we're at home, so hopefully next time we'll play a little better."

The Jazz also have to be concerned about Carlos Boozer, who was benched in the third quarter and heard boos from the crowd. Boozer returned in the fourth quarter, but went 1-for-9 with six points after going 7-for-23 in Thursday's loss to Denver.

"I'm going to land in New Orleans and go right to the gym and work out, get my shots up, work on my game and just try to get my rhythm back," Boozer said.

rsiler@sltrib.com T-wolves 103,

Jazz 102

In short ? The Jazz see their 15-game home winning streak come to an end against lottery-bound Minnesota.

Key moment ? Rodney Carney tips in Ryan Gomes' three-point miss with 1:34 left for a 98-96 lead.

Key stat ? The Jazz's last home loss before Friday came Jan. 27 against San Antonio.