When it all began, the Jazz were going down.
     
Down, down, down, over and over again.
     
The low point might have been Nov. 3 in Seattle, when they fell 91-77 to the Sonics to start the 2002-03 NBA season 1-3, and Karl Malone went scoreless for the first time in his career. Or maybe it was Nov. 15 on the road against Detroit, when they lost 86-75 to the Pistons, plummeting to 3-7.
     
Either way, it was basement-bargain play. But there was an elevator up, and the Jazz have been riding it lately.
     
The long climb began Nov. 17 in Toronto, when Utah beat the Raptors 82-78, kick-starting a six-game win streak. Beginning that snowy Sunday in Canada, Utah has gone 22-9 ? making for a 25-16 record few would have expected at an 82-game season's mid-point.