The Jazz did not come back to Houston, according to the available evidence.

Well, there were reports that they technically showed up at the Toyota Center for Tuesday's Game 5 of their playoff series with the Rockets, but that was about all. Acting like they did not want to be here and were willing to bank on a one-game chance to close out the series at home, the Jazz pretty much mailed in a 95-69 defeat that may have been predictable and understandable, but not quite forgivable. Not until Friday night, anyway, when they can make Tuesday's complete waste of time seem even more meaningless, but in a good way.

"It's very disappointing," said Jazz guard Deron Williams, "but it's not the end of the world, not the end of the series."

It sort of seemed that way, when the Rockets were making the Jazz look lost, timid and disinterested.

Undoubtedly, everybody has teamed up to make Game 6 very, very interesting. "We're in a great situation," said Houston's Tracy McGrady. "We know we can win in Utah, because we've done it before."

His comment was directed to his teammates as they left the Toyota Center court last week, having won the first two games of the series, but Boozer's "We're not coming back to Houston" statement found its way into print and eventually out of context, as if he declared it in a news conference or something. Tuesday, it was added to the Rockets' quoteboard, the video montage of doubters' expressions about them that is featured during pregame introductions.

"We used that as motivation," McGrady said after a 29-point game.

The Jazz were in this game only long enough for the Rockets to start making shots, which translated to the beginning of the second quarter. From there, it all crumbled, in an embarrassing series of plays. Kyle Korver fumbled the ball, appeared to chase it halfheartedly, and was quickly benched. Ronnie Brewer made a nice steal, but missed an open layup and Andrei Kirilenko was called for a rebound foul. Mehmet Okur knocked a rebound away from Kirilenko and out of bounds, when they were alone under the Jazz basket.

The Jazz made two baskets in the first eight minutes of the quarter, and one came via a 5-on-4 possession when Houston's Luther Head was injured, lying down at the other end. The Rockets' 43-32 advantage was their first halftime lead in 12 playoff games with the Jazz over two years - which would be more acceptable if things had not become worse in the second half.

It was natural for the Jazz to recognize they did not have to win Tuesday, but c'mon. A reasonable effort might have been nice.

"We knew it was going to be tough," Williams said. "We knew they were going to be ready. We needed to match their intensity and energy level and we didn't do it."

Seated next to Williams in the postgame news conference, Boozer nodded in approval - or disapproval, in this case.

Tuesday's Houston Chronicle headline nicely summarized the Rockets' challenge of needing to win three games as "Do, Do, Do or Die."

In contrast, the Jazz's optional mission could be described as "Do . . . or Do . . . or Do or die."

It's that second "Do" opportunity that really comes into play now. If the Jazz are to win the series and justify the home-court aura they spent the whole regular season developing, they have to win Game 6.

Nobody would like their chances, coming back to Houston for Game 7. But if they win Friday, nobody will care how they played Tuesday. Sure, it would have been a nice achievement to close out the Rockets on their home floor, but coach Jerry Sloan was not worried about the global significance of such an opportunity.

"If we win, we go on; if we don't, we play 'em again," he said before the game. "That's all there is to it."

So, the Jazz are coming home, and the Rockets are following them. That's OK, for now. If everybody comes back to Houston this weekend, though, the Jazz will have a big problem.

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* KURT KRAGTHORPE can be reached at kkragthorpe@sltrib.com. To write a letter about this or any sports topic, send an e-mail to sportseditor@sltrib.com.