Jazz face a 'monumental' task News Denver Nuggets

DENVER ? If the stars had been differently aligned Tuesday night, the Jazz might have been playing tonight for the lead in the NBA's Northwest Division. Instead, after Utah lost at Portland and Denver beat New York, the Jazz ? two-time defending champs in the Northwest ?

are left to ponder just what tonight's division showdown with the Nuggets has become. "It's monumental," power forward Carlos Boozer said. "There's definitely pressure," point guard Deron Williams said. "We had a chance to gain some ground (Tuesday), distance ourselves a little bit from (Portland) and put ourselves in (position) to catch Denver going into that game. Now, we just backtracked." With just eight games to go ? including tonight's contest ? in their 2008-09 regular season, the 46-28 Jazz woke up today 21/2 games behind leader Denver (49-26) and 11/2 behind second-place Portland (47-27) in the division. Without a win tonight, the notion of catching the Nuggets ? who, unlike the Jazz, already have clinched a playoff spot ? and earning an automatic top-four playoff seed for winning the Northwest seems that much more far-fetched. So, too, does the idea of earning homecourt advantage for at least the first round of the Western Conference playoffs ? which would seem to be a pretty big deal for a club that is now 14-22 away from home and still has no road victories over playoff-bound teams from the West. No wonder some with the Jazz, who spent the night in Portland and traveled to Denver on Wednesday, seemed so worried Tuesday about the deeper meaning of an embarrassing 125-104 blowout loss to the Trail Blazers. Especially one that came on the heels of victories over Phoenix and New York over the past week in which Utah won only after first blowing leads of 21 and 24 points, respectively. Boozer said the Jazz would have to spend Wednesday getting their "minds right for Denver." "I'm very concerned," Williams said after the loss in Portland. "You could kind of see it coming after those last two games. "We come out (Tuesday), we weren't even ready to play. So, we've just got to regroup, put this one behind us and worry about Denver now. That's another huge game for us." But the seven that await after tonight are, too. So suggests Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, whose club still must pay visits to Dallas, New Orleans, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers before its regular season comes to a close. "All the games we have left are important ? if we're going to make the playoffs, and finish as high as you can and see where we are," he said. "We've got a lot of tough games (left). We knew that when we got (to Portland)." Yet the Jazz also knew when they arrived in Portland that, with wins both Tuesday and tonight, they'd be in so-much better shape when it comes to not just the division race but also overall conference playoff seeding. And they failed to show anyway. As a result, they are now looking at playing the part of underdog just as soon as another postseason ? their third straight, presuming a complete collapse doesn't keep them from getting there ?? gets under way. Not that Williams thinks any of that should impact the Jazz's focus on what he deems to be the foremost task at hand. "We're just trying to win, win as many games as possible," he said. "There's no way to tell who you're going to play (in the first round), probably, until that last game of the season ? so, we're not worried about who we're going to play or who's at the top," Williams added. "You know, we've just got to worry about winning, turning it around." E-MAIL: tbuckley@desnews.com