Indianapolis • Al Jefferson, Devin Harris and Raja Bell all said the same exact thing. The Jazz aren’t a good enough team to flip an on-and-off switch midway through a game. Especially not on the road. And definitely not when Utah spends the first half looking lifeless against the surging Indiana Pacers, falls behind by 21 early during the third quarter, then digs a hole so deep even the best NBA teams would struggle to climb out unscathed.

The Jazz nearly emerged Tuesday, using a fiery 35-13 run to remind coach Tyrone Corbin what makes his team special when it plays inspired Utah basketball. But by the time the Jazz’s locker room door opened after a 104-99 loss to the Pacers, the same frustrated words and tired looks were coming from key players who’ve watched Utah (13-11) drop four of five and lose its focus and direction at the worst possible time.

Jazz-Pacers box score: http://bit.ly/AEgbFM

The Jazz aren’t executing for 48 minutes. They’re not playing with passion for four quarters. And for every inspiring all-in blitz that serves as a reminder Utah’s still the same surprising team that won nine of 11 from Jan. 2-21, there are mental and physical lapses that remind players such as Jefferson, Harris and Bell much work remains to be done.

Another problem: there’s little time do it.

The Jazz play 19-5 Oklahoma City — the best team record-wise in the league — twice during the next week. Tucked in between is Utah’s lone back-to-back-to-back road trip.

The unproven Jazz entered their two-month road test saying they must stick together, stand strong and persevere. Three games and three losses in, Utah’s leaders are already looking in the mirror.

"We’ve got to wake up, man. We’ve got to start doing it," Jefferson said. "Because we’re going to find ourselves on the outside looking in."

The Jazz were barely competitive for the first 28 minutes against an athletic, well-balanced Pacers (17-7) team that continues to assert itself as one of the best squads in a reshuffled Eastern Conference. Indiana point guard Darren Collison was Jeremy Lin Redux, scoring a game-high 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and continually darting his way through the perimeter, into the paint and toward the basket.

With 8 minutes, 4 seconds left in the third quarter, it was 71-50 Indiana and Utah appeared buried. The team’s body language soured. Corbin slowly paced the sideline, silently fuming with the knowledge he wasn’t getting what he wanted from his club.