Karl Malone was in a pensive mood Saturday evening, pondering the fate of his team after a second discouraging loss in a row that afternoon.

""I wish I knew," he said quietly.

The Jazz are still in the hunt for a 19th consecutive playoff appearance, yet the grim reality is that they are not close to being the elite team they once were.

They are 1-10 against the top five teams in the NBA"s Western Conference, and against the league"s best team, the Sacramento Kings, they have suffered embarrassing blowouts the past two games.

""We haven"t had tough times like this in a long, long time," coach Jerry Sloan said. ""It will be interesting to see just how we work out of it."