Tim Duncan didn't need to bury a last-second turnaround jumper over Karl Malone. He had little reason to yell at the crowd. Or, disappointingly, shake his hips.

Compared to his last meeting with Utah, Duncan spent the end of Saturday's game in a much more relaxed state. He simply sat on the bench and stretched his legs.

Duncan got his work done early, scoring 30 points in the first three quarters before watching along with the sellout SBC Center crowd of 18,797 as the Spurs' reserves finished off a 101-81 rout for their 12th consecutive victory over the Jazz.

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.

Not long ago, the San Antonio-Utah rivalry was one of the NBA's most heated as the teams vied annually for supremacy in the Midwest Division.

Much of the antipathy remains, judging from the boos that still shower Karl Malone, but the matchup on the court has turned one-sided.

The only good news Saturday, according to Greg Ostertag, was the play of the Kansas Jayhawks.
   
The only good news for the Jazz, on the other hand, was the play of Ostertag.
   
Maybe it was the company he was keeping.
   
Faced with David Robinson and Tim Duncan down low, the KU grad turned in one of his best performances of the season, helping the Jazz stay close to San Antonio, at least for a half. Ostertag scored seven points in each of the first two quarters, outrebounded Duncan and Robinson almost by himself, and generally made life tougher for a couple of post players used to having their way.
   
"Oster kept us in the game," said Karl Malone. "He just didn't get any help."

The Jazz's six-game winning streak was a feel-good diversion. But their 12-game losing streak looks a lot more real.
   
After feasting on the likes of the Clippers and Bucks for two weeks, the Jazz moved up in class Saturday night and found themselves outclassed by a longtime tormentor. San Antonio, in a dogfight for the NBA's best record and top playoff seed, flicked the Jazz away with a 27-4 second-half romp, turning a close game into another Texas rout, 101-81 in the SBC Center.

Six straight victories, Jerry Sloan was quick to agree on Friday, certainly beats the alternative.
   
But the Jazz coach isn't certain that tying their longest streak of the season necessarily reflects the Jazz's level of play right now.
   
"It's going pretty well, but I have to be honest. We've been fortunate to play a couple of teams that are struggling a little bit or are without some of their players," Sloan said after Utah handed Milwaukee its third straight loss. "It will mean a little more if we can prove it against the best."
   
What fortuitous timing. The Jazz face the NBA's hottest team, the 51-20 Spurs, tonight in San Antonio. Considering that the Spurs have won 17 of 21 games since the All-Star break, and considering that the Jazz haven't won in San Antonio in this century, tonight will qualify as a real test.

The Jazz get another crack at trying to figure out the San Antonio Spurs tonight.

"They have beat us every time we've played them for the last 10 years," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said.

Actually, the streak isn't quite that bad, but it's bad.

The Spurs have won 11 straight games over the Jazz, including a 91-90 victory at the Delta Center on Jan. 24 when Tim Duncan sank a baseline jumper at the buzzer.

The Star Tribune is reporting that Lenny Wilkens feels that Allen Iverson should be a part of the Olympic squad.

"How could he not be on that team?" Wilkens said.

Wilkens also said he felt it was unfair to make such an accomplished player wait for a spot on the team.

Stu Jackson, chairman of the USA Basketball Committee that chooses the players, has said that Iverson is being considered.

So far the only players to accept invitations are Seattle's Ray Allen, Orlando's Tracy McGrady, Scaramento's Mike Bibby, San Antonio's Tim Duncan, and New Jersey's Jason Kidd.

Laker's guard Kobe Bryant and Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett have recieved invitations, but have yet to accept.

A game Phil Jackson had "asterisked" as a game the Lakers would show everyone they still were the team to beat, turned into failure.

With the Spurs defeating the Lakers 98-89, they swept the season series with the Lakers. It is not the loss that has Jackson so riled up, but his seemingly unfazed team reports Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register.

"I honestly don't think it bothers this team at all," Jackson said. "They feel totally confident they can beat the Spurs whenever they put their mind to it. ... I'm not happy about it."

It seems Jackson has hit the nail on the head.

"If you're looking for shaken-up confidence," Lakers star Kobe Bryant said, "you've come to the wrong place."

And the season sweep by the Spurs?

"It's good," he said. "Maybe they got it out of their system. Now we can move on to the playoffs and sweep them, then we'll balance things out."

Johnny Ludden of the San Antonio Express-News reports: After Spurs coach Gregg Popovich learned that David Robinson was cleared to play and that more rest would not improve his back, he decided to play the former All-star immediately.

"I asked if he sat between now and the first playoff game, would his back be better and they said no," Popovich said. "It's not a muscular thing or a ligament thing. It's a (disc) chip that's floating around (in his lower back). He could be picking up little Davey in the yard and it could happen. Because that's the case, he feels he should playing. It's kind of hard for me to argue against that."

In his first game back, Robinson finished with 2 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes.