This was supposed to be the new and improved Heat. A version Utah had not seen this season. A version that had won seven of its past eight games and was threatening to get even better.

In the end, though, it was a Heat team missing star center Alonzo Mourning. A Heat team not good enough to defeat the Jazz.

With Mourning at the team hotel in bed with the flu, the Heat's chances of avenging its worst loss of the season, and one of the worst in NBA history, fell short in a 101-89 setback Monday night to the Jazz in front of 18,808 fans in the Delta Center.

All five Utah starters and one reserve scored in double figures, led by guard Bryon Russell's 20 points, forward Karl Malone's 19 and center Jarron Collins' 18.

Malone needs 18 points to reach 34,000 for his career.

The Heat was led by guard Rod Strickland, who scored 16 points.

LaPhonso Ellis started at forward, and Brian Grant at center in place of Mourning. Ellis scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds in 27 minutes. Reserve center Vladimir Stepania scored five points and pulled down nine rebounds.

Grant picked up five fouls through three quarters and fouled out with the Heat trailing 92-81 with 3:49 to play.

Although the Heat fell, its effort was quite a contrast from the teams' meeting earlier this season at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Miami flew to Utah on Sunday with a sick center and serious thoughts of payback for its 95-56 loss Dec. 18, in which it tied a franchise low for points, shot a franchise-low 27.7 percent from the field (23 for 83) and was outrebounded 59 to 30.

Miami's 56 points that night tied for the third-lowest in NBA history. The 39-point loss was the sixth worst in Heat history, the most lopsided since a 45-point drubbing against the Bulls in December 1994.

Even with Mourning out, the Heat came closer this time, a lot closer.

A long two-pointer by guard Eddie House closed the Heat to 86-81 with 6:40 remaining, but it got no closer.

The Heat, which lost for the second time in three games, fell to 15-27 and remains in last place in the Atlantic Division.

The Jazz had lost six of its past seven games, including three of five at home. The victory moved Utah to 23-22 and kept it in fourth place in the Midwest Division.

Heat coach Pat Riley, who received a technical foul at the end of the third quarter, was upset over some of the officiating.

``We get accused of being a sort of push-and-shove team, and that's ridiculous,'' Riley said. ``[Utah] does a good job offensively, they cut and all that stuff, but the referees don't let you play defense against them. It is a ridiculous thing.''

Mourning will be evaluated today when the team arrives in Denver for its 9 p.m. game against the Nuggets.

``Being a last-minute decision on Zo's condition, we didn't have time to prepare a whole new offense. But we adjusted as we could, trying not to make the inside game our strength,'' Riley said.

The Heat fell behind 7-0 and chased the Jazz all night. A 19-point deficit in the second quarter threatened to make it a repeat of the Dec. 18 debacle, but the Heat recovered as Strickland poured in 12 points and Grant added 10 before halftime.

The Heat got as close as 35-31 in the second quarter, but the Jazz defense tightened in the middle and forced Miami to shoot outside.

The Jazz extended its lead to 48-31 late in the second quarter on a scoring rally led by a pair of three-pointers from Russell.

The Heat was as close as 79-71 in the first minute of the final quarter, but again the Jazz defense cut off the lanes. Russell's three-pointer with 2:25 to play extended Utah's lead to 95-83, and fans headed for the exits.