<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Emotionally and physically - and now mathematically, too - the Jazz aren't a playoff team. Psychologically? That's another matter. "We believe we're a playoff team. We should be there," Carlos Boozer insisted Sunday after a 111-95 loss to the Mavericks formally ended scoreboard-watching season and awarded the final playoff berth to the Sacramento Kings. "If we had this lineup as late as [the beginning of] March, we'd have been OK. We'd be there." Instead, the Jazz are left to ponder their medical misfortune, their rookie growing pains and ultimately, their third consecutive early vacation. Their fate was all but certain for the past few weeks, but a five-game winning streak cruelly sharpened the pain of their failure. "It's so bad. It's not what we wanted," said Andrei Kirilenko, his defensive skills rendered powerless by an aggressive Mavericks offense and a wrenched back muscle. "We fought back and fought back. But it's too late to have chance now." </div> <div align="center">Source</div>
