The Jazz did not leave here with a win Saturday night. But they did depart having learned a very valuable lesson:
Avoid, at all costs, facing the San Antonio Spurs in the opening round of the NBA playoffs. Otherwise, Utah will exit from the postseason like a Texas tornado speeding toward Karl Malone's Arkansas ranch.
The Jazz were reminded of that virtual reality Saturday, when the Spurs blew them out with a 101-81 victory in front of 18,797 at the sold-out SBC Center.
"We match up pretty well with them," San Antonio's reigning NBA MVP, Tim Duncan, said after scoring a game-high 30 points, "and have had some pretty good success."
No kidding.