On Friday night, however, the Jazz couldn't help themselves.

After the Jazz rolled to an easy 106-88 victory over the injury-ravaged Los Angeles Clippers, coach Jerry Sloan and his players knew the biggest game of the week had already gotten away from them.

Just 24 hours before blasting the Clippers, the Jazz played poorly and lost to Northwest Division rival Denver, 120-109. The loss dropped them to 6-15 on the road. The win over the Clippers bumped them 17-3 at home.

"Our energy just seems like it's a lot better here," Deron Williams said. "It seems like we play better defense here. That's been the case all season."

Against Denver, the Jazz allowed 98 points in the first three quarters - 10 more than the Clippers managed to score in the whole game.

Nuggets journeyman Linas Kleiza scored a career-high 41 points - 21 more than any Clipper managed in Utah.

After the win over L.A., Sloan was still talking about his disappointment over the Jazz's play in Denver.

"I thought our focus should have been a lot stronger," he said. "All week long I heard it was a big game. [But] we came out and played like it wasn't important."

According to Sloan, the Jazz played with more purpose against the Clippers than they did against an opponent just ahead of them in the Western Conference playoff race.

"Somewhere there has to be a passion to play the game," he said. "Otherwise it's a just job to you."

Asked why there's such a big discrepancy in Utah's home and road records, Sloan said, "It tells me we don't have the same concentration on the road. But that's just my opinion."

Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy saw the Jazz at their locally flavored best.

"This team is very good at home," he said. "They execute their stuff [and] they make good plays. If you're not sharp in your coverage, they'll burn you."

Especially in the friendly confines of EnergySolutions Arena.

luhm@sltrib.com

Home and away

Back to back

The Jazz on the second night of back-to-back games, over the last four seasons, and their overall record:

2004-05 6-15 25-56

2005-06 11-10 41-41

2006-07 9-9 51-31

2007-08 3-8 23-18