A victory at Dallas could help the Jazz avoid Lakers News New Orleans Hornets

DALLAS ? With so little separating the pack, they're not alone. But a loss tonight by Utah or Dallas could help doom either to the eighth and final playoff position in the NBA's Western Conference ? and a guaranteed first-round postseason meeting with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, runaway leaders in the West.

With that very much in mind, a suggestion that the Jazz's visit with the Mavericks tonight amounts to an Avoid the Lakers Bowl was not exactly refuted following Utah's Sunday victory at New Orleans. "I'm not scared to play anybody, but there's certain matchups, certain teams, you want to stay away from in the first round," point guard Deron Williams said. "They're definitely one of them." "I hate to say that, but I think everyone's in that situation," starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer added with a laugh. "You really don't want to go on the road in that eighth seed. "I mean, they (the Lakers) are playing extremely well." Like Williams' words, Brewer's comment came with a disclaimer. "But you have confidence in your team," he said, "so it's not like you're trying to avoid any team." Yet there the 46-31 Mavericks are in eighth, and there the 47-30 Jazz are just a game up on them (and controlling the series head-to-head tie-breaker, no matter who wins tonight) with five to go in their 2008-09 regular season, and neither team particularly likes where it is. "They don't want to be in that eighth spot," Williams said of the Mavs, who seem well-positioned to fend off Phoenix for the final berth in the West ? and could even catch one or two of the clubs currently ahead. "They want to try to climb up." Ditto for the Jazz, who must win at least three of their final five in order to record a third straight season with 50 or more victories. "We know we're in the playoffs," Brewer said. "We're trying to get better seeding." They are, and that much was made abundantly clear prior to Tuesday's practice for tonight's ESPN-televised game. By then, in fact, the whole notion of trying to avoid the Lakers was trumped by the thought of a still-possible rise in the standings. "We don't worry about, 'Who are we going to play in the first round?'?" starting center Mehmet Okur said. "We know that situation is going to be a tough situation for the (eighth-seeded) team. Of course we've talked about it. ? You don't want to have to play probably the best team in the league right now in the first round," small forward C.J. Miles added. "But ? still, if we win and they win, we'd probably have to play them sometime anyway. We play them first, we play them last ? we've still got to play them." Coach Jerry Sloan could not agree more. "You can't worry about who you're gonna play," he said. "If you're afraid to play the Lakers, you're in a business where you don't want to be there. "Play whoever's there," Sloan added. "If you're good enough to beat them, you're good enough to move on." Which is not at all to suggest Sloan does not want his Jazz to continue what it started against the postseason-bound Hornets, even if it means waiting to face a Lakers team that eliminated Utah from the second round of last year's playoffs. There, in New Orleans, Utah didn't just snap a three-game losing streak and partly atone for inexplicably poor play in key Northwest Division games last week at Portland and Denver. It did so in a fashion that, save for yet another less-than-ideal third quarter, left the typically tough-to-please coach beaming. "We told them that's one of the best games they've played as far as helping each other in the early part of the game," Sloan said. "That's basically what we've been looking for ? that kind of cohesiveness, to give you a chance to win," he added. "You don't get a chance when everybody goes down and everybody's got to score." The effort, especially early, was so impressive that Sloan was prompted to ponder what might be ? just like he did before point guard Deron Williams sprained his ankle in the preseason, before Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko both underwent in-season surgery, and before the Jazz endured an extended stretch in which medical woes were as commonplace as layups. "I said at the beginning of the year, if we can stay healthy I thought we'd have a pretty good year," Sloan said. "And we didn't stay healthy ? and we're still in pretty decent shape. "I mean, we could be out of the playoffs with all the injuries and stuff we've had. I don't think there's (any) question about that. But now, how far are we out of second place? "I didn't think I was overselling it." Western Conference playoff race Record ... GB 1. Lakers ... 60-16 ... ? 2. Nuggets ... 50-26 ... 10 3. Spurs ... 49-26 ... 101/2 4. Trail Blazers ... 48-27 ... 111/2 5. Rockets ... 48-28 ... 12 6. Hornets ... 47-28 ... 121/2 7. Jazz ... 46-30 ... 14 8. Mavericks ... 45-31 ... 15 9. Suns ... 42-34 ... 18 E-Mail: tbuckley@desnews.com