'Lack of toughness' causes Jazz to lose fourth-quarter lead to Lakers


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SALT LAKE CITY — The mood of positivity was building around the Utah Jazz.

After trading Enes Kanter to Oklahoma City, among other assets, the Jazz were 2-0, with wins over playoff contenders Portland and San Antonio. Additionally, Utah held both teams to season lows in points while nearly going wire-to-wire in the victory over the Spurs.

In spite of all the accolades being thrown at players like center Rudy Gobert, Jazz coach Quin Snyder isn’t happy with where his team is. He’s happy they’re improving, but he won’t be content until they execute at the highest level possible.

For that reason, Snyder wasn’t pleased Wednesday as Utah allowed a double-digit lead in the second half to dwindle to one of basketball’s worst teams, the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers ultimately prevailed, winning 100-97.

The San Antonio win caused social media to explode with praise of Utah’s defensive effort, and talk openly circulated about whether Utah had finally turned a corner towards becoming a consistent team.

However, Snyder said his players reflected a lack of consistency and toughness in the loss.

#UJ

“We just were weak — weak-minded, not precise in our spacing,” he said. “They were aggressive on their pick-and-roll defense, and we just didn’t react. We had a couple opportunities in spite of that to make plays, and we didn’t. But (not making plays) clearly fueled their offense.

“It’s an NBA game, people are going to be physical. It can’t be that easy.”

Unfortunately, Snyder’s message rang hollow with the Jazz. Despite entering the fourth quarter with a 78-69 lead, Utah allowed Los Angeles a 31-19 fourth quarter to give the franchise just its 15th win of the season.

The Jazz came out with a hunger, taking a 29-21 first-quarter lead. Also, Utah held Los Angeles to 35 percent shooting (7-of-20), while making 57.1 percent (12-of-21). However, the Lakers shot 52 percent in the fourth quarter (12-of-23), and the Jazz countered with just a 6-of-22 performance. Also, Utah missed seven free throws in the final quarter.

Utah held an 88-82 lead with 6:10 left in the fourth quarter, and then Jazz forward Trevor Booker missed two free throws. Utah finished the game shooting just 22-of-34 at the line.

Snyder said it’s important for Utah to improve its performance at the free-throw line.

“It’s a concern that it’s happening,” he said. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s some overarching problem that our players are a team that can’t make free throws. We haven’t made them, we didn’t make them tonight; we need to make them. I think sometimes you go through stretches like this. Hopefully it will be something we’ll settle down and come out of.”

Other statistical woes affected the Jazz. For instance, the team had 21 turnovers, which the Lakers scored 22 points off of.

Jazz guard Trey Burke, who finished with 17 points off the bench, said a lack of focus contributed to the loss.

“We fell apart,” he said. “We made some mistakes, made too many turnovers, and I think it started with me. Tonight, there was a point of time in the game where we didn’t execute, and we turned the ball over. They made us pay for it, so it’s something we have to watch on film. It’s something we can’t allow to happen; this was a game we felt like we could have won.”

There were some bright spots for Utah, in spite of the fourth-quarter woes. For instance, Elijah Millsap scored a career-high 17 points, and Gobert tied a career-high with 16 points, while also grabbing 14 rebounds.

However, Gobert said his performance was immaterial in relation to the final result for the team.

“I think we should have won the game, that’s what I think,” he said. “We’ve got to keep communicating, and I feel like nobody was talking at the game. In the ballgame, there were loose balls and they were getting them better than us.”

Utah had a chance to put up its third consecutive win, but fell short in the pursuit. However, Snyder said the loss reflects where the team is at — a mixture of positive and negative moments, largely attributed to youth and inexperience.

“I think there’s an edge you have to work very hard to maintain throughout a season, particularly a team that’s had two really good wins,” he said. “Let’s be honest, we played well (in wins over San Antonio and Portland). But teams that are on a higher level, and a level we want to get to, continue to replicate that effort. We weren’t able to do that tonight.”

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Jon Oglesby

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