It was difficult to tell who was least excited about being in the Delta Center Monday night -- the Nuggets, the Jazz or the crowd of 18,381 that witnessed Utah's 100-82 victory.
  Only a French figure skating judge could have handed out high marks for the Jazz's cruise-control win over the outmanned Nuggets.
  Only a curling match would have provide fewer "SportsCenter" moments.
  In the end, the Jazz won for the the eighth time in the last 10 games. Karl Malone scored 21 points and Donyell Marshall added 17, but there was little intensity or consistency in what should have been an important game for Utah.
  Locked in a battle with Seattle and the Clippers for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference, the Jazz muddled through their win over the Nuggets as if it were an October preseason game.
  Denver coach Mike Evans noticed.
  "We were lucky we lost by only 18," he said. "It should have been one of those 25-, 30-, 40-point losses. They didn't play that well, either."
  Jazz coach Jerry Sloan agreed.
  "You get paid to give 100 percent," he said. "That's what their job is. You owe it to the fans to give your best effort every night."
  Clearly, this was not the Jazz's best effort.