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Posted: 2:02 PM- When the San Antonio Spurs got off the bus for their shootaround on Monday at 9:50 a.m., it was a sunny, warm and windy morning in Salt Lake City.

About an hour later, the Spurs walked back outside and into a raging Utah blizzard that had already deposited an inch of snow on the back parking lot at EnergySolutions Arena.

It figures.

Thanks primarily to an outbreak of injuries, the Spurs' season has been as hot-and-cold as a Wasatch Front winter.

San Antonio takes a 28-14 record into tonight's game against the Jazz, but the Spurs are only 11-11 in their last 22 games. They come off a 102-78 home loss to New Orleans, which San Antonio trails in the overall Western Conference standings by 2 1/2 games.

Because of injuries, the Spurs have played without Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili at various times during the first three months of the regular season.

Duncan, Parker and Ginobili will play against Utah, but veteran sharpshooter Brent Barry remains sidelined for another three or four weeks because of a strained calf.

Asked whether the injuries have prevented the defending NBA champions from playing up to expectations so far, coach Gregg Popovich said, "Everybody gets bumps and bruises. We've had some. But you have to ignore them because every team has to deal with that."

Since the start of the 2000-01 season, San Antonio is 24-4 against the Jazz, not counting last year's 4-1 rout in the Western Conference finals. On Dec. 7, the Spurs scored a 104-98 win over Utah -- their 17th straight home win in the series.

According to Popovich, defending the Jazz's pick-and-roll and rebounding with authority are the keys against Utah, which he described as "a great executing team. Real aggressive. A physical team. It always starts with playing defense -- trying not to give them easy buckets -- and rebounding the basketball, because they've hurt us on the boards before. So it's always an emphasis."

Popovich likes what the Jazz did to their roster by acquiring Kyle Korver for Gordan Giricek and a protected first-round draft pick on Dec. 29. Since the trade, Utah is 11-2. In the Jazz's 97-89 win at Houston on Sunday night, Korver scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.

"Obviously he's a great shooter," Popovich said. "But he's also a tough kid. He fits into their system very well. He doesn't back off from anybody. He's a physical player. He's not just a shooter in that regard. And he spreads the floor well -- as we all know -- and keeps things open for Carlos [Boozer]. ... So he's a fine addition."

Because the annual San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo takes over the AT&T Center for the next three weeks, the Spurs play their next nine games on the road.

Traditionally, San Antonio does well on the road during the rodeo, using the trip as a springboard to four championships since 1999.

"In the past, it's just been a time when we've been able to focus," Popovich said. "We've also been healthy on these road trips and that's always important. ...

"We'll focus on the things we've done poorly during the first half and try to do them better on this trip, while there are fewer distractions. It's happened before. Maybe it will happen again. We'll see."