Sometimes there are interesting wrinkles in games no matter what the result. There are times when even throughout the course of a loss that the Utah Jazz can be proud of the things they did and they can look at small moments to build on.
That was not the case on Monday night when the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz, 144-107.
The Jazz were already trailing by 20 points midway through the first quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers extended their lead to 32 points less than two minutes into the second quarter. The game was over before it even started.
“We got our butts kicked,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “The game was really decided in the first quarter, is what it comes down to. But, you know, the message to the team in a moment like this is that we all get judged a lot, but we ultimately are going to get judged the most by how we act when it doesn’t go our way.”
Just like last month, the Jazz are serving as the Clippers’ get-right prescription during a 3-game losing streak16-4 LA run20-7 LA leadOnly blemish is too many fouls, as Jazz will spend last 6:45 in the bonus
— Law Murray 📘 (@lawmurraythenu.bsky.social) December 16, 2024 at 8:52 PM
As Clippers beat reporter Law Murray pointed out on social media, the Clippers, who were coming off of a three-game skid, used the Jazz to get back into a good rhythm, just as they did last month.
The Jazz’s defense was bad, the offense was bad and the turnovers were egregious.
Even in the moments where the Jazz would do something right, it was often followed by something that negated the positivity. They would get a rare defensive stop and then immediately turn the ball over leading to a transition bucket for the Clippers. Keyonte George would make a good move inside and get to the free throw line, where he missed both shots.
Great ball movement and spacing would then be followed by Lauri Markkanen passing the ball to absolutely no one out of bounds. Jazz head coach Will Hardy challenged two different calls that ended up awarding Jazz possession of the ball, but then the Jazz turned the ball over anyway on both possessions.
Meanwhile, James Harden had an easy 41 points to help lead the Clippers. As a team, they eclipsed the 100-point mark midway through the third quarter and the Jazz weren’t offering any resistance defensively that would make much of a difference down the stretch.
The argument could be made by the Jazz that they played the Clippers pretty even in the third quarter scoring 33 points to the Clippers 34 points, but then the argument could be made by the Clippers that having a nearly 40-point lead allowed them to let their foot off the gas a little bit. A team that’s winning by that many points doesn’t really have to do anything other than play their opponent evenly.
Then, the Jazz were still outscored in the fourth quarter even though the starters were pulled. That’s not great and neither are the 23 total turnovers the Jazz committed which led to 34 points for the Clippers.
“Turnovers, going into the game we said this was going to be the emphasis,” Hardy said. “And just a lot of sloppy play with the ball.”
When a team is designed to be inexperienced and lacking in cohesive winning traits, there are going to be games like this. Not every game is going to be something to build upon. Sometimes it’s a game that should be used as a ‘what not to do’ example. That’s what Monday’s game was for the Jazz.
