Jazz are good enough to get big leads but can't keep them — can they solve the conundrum?

SALT LAKE CITY — Having the Utah Jazz next on the schedule is starting to look pretty good to opposing teams.

Not only are you likely to get a win — the Jazz have lost five of six after their latest collapse against Golden State — but you'll also get a pretty big pick-me-up, too.

The Los Angeles Clippers lost five in a row and were limping toward the play-in tournament when the Jazz came to town. Then they came back from being down 25 points and Paul George returned to score 34 points, and suddenly there's confidence in La La Land again.

"It changes for us big time," Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.

The Warriors were in a similar position Saturday. They had fallen out of the third seed after losing four in a row and Steph Curry had been ruled out for the regular season. Four minutes into the fourth quarter, it looked like they would be scrapping by to keep home-court advantage, too; then they got a throwback performance from Klay Thompson.

He hit four 3-pointers in about three minutes and a big Jazz lead was suddenly erased. Thompson had been shooting 34% from deep since the beginning of March and was coming off a 1-of-10 night in Golden State's loss to Phoenix Wednesday.

"What a way to snap out of this ugly streak we've had," Thompson said after his blitzkrieg fourth quarter.

As for the drop coverage the Jazz stayed in during the fourth quarter which allowed him to get open looks, he said, "I wasn't surprised, but I'm grateful." He had a smirk on his face after the comment. The confidence had returned. Suddenly, the Warriors feel like a greater threat in the West.

The Lakers are probably kicking themselves about their decision not to have Anthony Davis return against the Jazz on Thursday. Maybe they would have found their mojo too, and would be viewing their play-in chances in a much better light.

As for the Jazz, they are, once again, forced to come to grips with another double-digit blown lead. They were up by 21 points in the first quarter and up 16 with just over seven minutes left to play. It's getting comical how this keeps happening — well, to everyone outside of the Utah's locker room.

Donovan Mitchell rested his face on his left hand in the postgame interview session. He was disappointed but not angry; he was frustrated but also calm. Everything had already been said — this was the 15th time the Jazz have lost after holding a double-digit lead this season; that accounts for nearly half of the team's 32 losses.

"It's a glaring issue right now. I think we have a group of guys, including myself, where it's gonna feel good when we figure it out," Mitchell said. "So we can sit here and feel sorry for ourselves or we can use it as fuel, and I think we have guys that want to do that. Yeah, we've messed up; we've messed up four quarters 14 times, 15 times, how do we respond? That's where I'm at."

The interesting thing about Saturday's game was how for nearly 42 minutes the Jazz were actually showing that a potential Warriors matchup in the playoffs might have been to their advantage.

Golden State doesn't have the players to utilize a full-on switching defense (and Saturday was one of the few times all season it tried it) that has proven to bog Utah's offense down. Mike Conley was dynamite in pick-and-roll sets as the Jazz got the Warriors scrambling possession after possession.

The Warriors also don't have the personnel to really go five out consistently. Gary Payton II, Draymond Green and Andre Igoudala aren't the type of shooters the Jazz would be too worried about leaving open.

Then the last six minutes happened.

Royce O'Neale didn't fight over screens hard enough and Thompson went off; Bojan Bogdanovic, Rudy Gobert and Mitchell all had unforced turnovers, and the Jazz missed some shots — and missed them badly — they usually make.

"I missed two easy layups," Mitchell said. "Growing pains. It sucks, straight up but I'll figure it out. I haven't been great all year in these moments. This is what drives you figuring stuff out, and I will."

Utah has had the most double-digit leads of any team in the NBA this season. The Jazz are both skilled enough to get those advantages and weak enough to let them disappear. It's a weird conundrum, and one they haven't been able to crack.

They are down to four games to solve the riddle. If they do, they're talented enough to catch lightning in a bottle and make a run; if they can't, well, they'll be good enough to take a lead in a series — and then give it up.

"I think we have mentally tough guys," Mitchell said. "I think we have guys who really want to figure it out. This isn't an ideal time to have these lapses but no season is perfect, no year is perfect. We'll figure it out."

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