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Jazz look to recover from first loss at Philadelphia

Nov 11, 2008 - 2:57 PM Utah (5-1) at Philadelphia (2-4), 7:00pm EST

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Utah Jazz continue their five-game, Eastern Conference road trip on Tuesday as they visit the struggling Philadelphia 76ers.

The Jazz opened the season with five straight victories until finally hitting a roadblock on Sunday in a 107-99 loss to the New York Knicks. They are facing a crucial stretch for the rest of the week, with a pair of back-to-back games awaiting them before they return home next week.

In Philadelphia, they will take on one of the presumed up-and-coming teams in the league. However, the Sixers have stumbled out of the gate as their offense has failed to garner any consistency. They have failed to break 90 points in each of their four losses despite showing some offensive explosiveness in spots.

The Sixers have dropped two in a row, including a 98-88 loss to the Orlando Magic on Thursday, during which high-profile offseason acquisition Elton Brand was held to just six points while the team's backcourt duo of Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller combined to shoot just 11-for-36.

The Jazz won both of their meetings with the Sixers last season - but will likely be without point guard Deron Williams for the seventh straight game. The fourth-year star is still nursing a sprained left ankle that has kept him sidelined since late in the preseason.

For the Sixers, his absence might be good news - in two games against them last campaign, Williams averaged 15.0 points and 17.5 assists.

His status has not been officially decided for Tuesday's game, but he is unlikely to be ready just yet. He may not return to the Jazz until they return home next week.