As if racheting up the degree of difficulty, the Jazz may face the NBA's best team tonight without their entire starting backcourt.
   
Deron Williams, batting the effects of an ear infection, could not finish Utah's morning workout Monday, and Jazz coach Jerry Sloan sounded pessimistic about his starting point guard's chances of suiting up against the 15-2 Pistons. "We'll have to see if he's any better tonight, but ... he's still sick," Sloan said.
   
Williams would become the 11th member of the Jazz's 15-man roster to miss a game this season.
   
Gordan Giricek, Williams' backcourt partner, will definitely not dress for the game, his Achilles tendon still too sore to run on.
   
The Jazz will get one guard back: Keith McLeod, who has missed the last 13 games with a fracture in his lower back, has been taken off the inactive list and expects to play.