Phoenix » As agonizingly close as the Jazz came Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns, the search for answers will have to continue when it comes to winning on the road and in the second game of back-to-back sets.

The Jazz had the score tied in the final minute, but came away with a 118-114 loss at US Airways Center. They will play the Suns again Saturday in Utah, but only can hope Wednesday's game won't be the one that costs them a favorable playoff seeding.

They squandered the chance to pass New Orleans for fifth in the Western Conference standings and lost ground in the Northwest Division race to Denver, which beat the Hornets. Also of note, the Jazz clinched a losing record on the road this season at 14-21.

The Jazz have six road games remaining against teams currently in playoff position in the West and still have beaten only one team on the road all season -- Philadelphia -- that came into Wednesday with a winning record.

"We have a lot of those games coming up," Deron Williams said. "We have a lot of tough games, tough road games. We've got to try to find ways to win. This is one we let slip away. It was right there in our grasp."

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan pointed to his team's 16-for-27 night at the foul line, the 68 points they gave up in the paint, the 54.9 percent shooting they allowed. But Sloan's glare at the officials as he walked off the court at the buzzer told an alternate story.

Fighting for the Western Conference's final playoff spot with Dallas, the Suns came out of a timeout with 44.8 seconds left and the score tied 114-114 and went to Grant Hill, isolated on Ronnie Brewer on the wing.

Hill drove and hit a fadeaway in the lane to give Phoenix the lead, the last of his game-high 26 points. At the other end, Williams had Louis Amundson switched on him, but missed a jumper off the front rim, only to have Mehmet Okur grab the rebound.

Okur passed out to Williams and got back the ball along the right side. He got turned around as he tried to drive on Matt Barnes, but drew contact as he hoisted a 17-footer. No foul was called as Okur's jumper missed and Sloan exploded from his seat.

Sloan had been irate after Paul Millsap was hammered under the basket with 2:46 left, with the no-call on Barnes setting him off again. Asked if he was fouled, Okur said: "That's what I thought. It was kind of lost my balance. That's how I felt. Maybe I'm wrong."

Williams had 25 points and 10 assists and came back on 1:50 of rest to play the entire fourth quarter, evidence of the Jazz's desperation to finally break through on the road. Instead, they dropped to 3-14 on the second night of back-to-back sets this season.

They led 97-95 after Okur's three-pointer with 8:00 left, but collapsed after the Suns switched to a zone defense. Carlos Boozer missed two jumpers and Okur missed a three-pointer, which gave the Suns the chance to run like greyhounds.

Jason Richardson blew an alley-oop dunk, but Richardson had a layup and Shaquille O'Neal dunked on the break as Phoenix went ahead 103-99. Two more dunks followed -- one after Hill blocked Boozer -- as the Suns took a 108-101 lead with 4:39 to play.

"Two or three times, we didn't even know where the ball was," Sloan said. "We turned around and hollered 'Oops,' or whatever we holler whenever we got lost out there, and they fired the ball in the basket."

Williams finally cracked the code on the zone, hitting two three-pointers, and the Jazz tied the game 112-112 on Kyle Korver's three-pointer with 1:51 to play.

It was Korver's fifth three-pointer of the game, as one of seven Jazz players to score in double figures.

Barnes drove on Millsap, spun and hit a shot with 1:28 to play and Williams was long on a jumper at the other end. The Suns couldn't take advantage, however, and Ronnie Brewer's jumper tied the score 114-114 with 49.0 seconds left.

In the end, the Jazz lost in Phoenix for the second time this season on the second night of a back-to-back. The Suns' combined margin of victory in those two games will be remembered as six points.

rsiler@sltrib.com