The Jazz still don't know who they'll be playing in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs with 48 hours left in the regular season. What they do know is the boost of confidence that a victory Wednesday over the Spurs would give them.
The Jazz have lost 20 consecutive games in San Antonio -- 17 in the regular season, three in last year's conference finals -- dating to February 1999. With a victory, however, the Jazz would claim the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and home-court advantage in the first round. "We've just got to keep winning," Deron Williams said. "This thing is changing every day, twice, three times maybe a day. The only thing we can do is control our own destiny by winning and everything else will take care of itself."
The Jazz have beaten the Spurs twice this season at home but lost 104-98 in San Antonio on Dec. 7 as Manu Ginobili scored 37 points for the defending champions. The Spurs are coming off a 101-98 victory Monday over Sacramento.
Interestingly, the Jazz would be able to avoid a first-round matchup against the Spurs with a loss. If Utah beats San Antonio, Houston beats the L.A. Clippers and Phoenix beats Portland on the season's final day, the Jazz would draw the Spurs.
JAZZ 105, ROCKETS 96: The Jazz finished the regular season 37-4 at home with a victory over Houston and remained on track to claim home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs by beating San Antonio on Wednesday.
They held Tracy McGrady to 22 points on 7-of-21 shooting after the Rockets' star scorched them for 47 points in spoiling the Jazz's home opener Nov. 1. McGrady was 0-for-4 with two missed free throws during the decisive second quarter, won 35-19 by the Jazz.
The Jazz built a 21-point lead in the third quarter and let Houston no closer than seven in the fourth quarter. There are still four playoff possibilities by which the Jazz could wind up in a first-round rematch against the Rockets.
