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SALT LAKE CITY — For a moment, there was hope.
An 18-7 run by the Utah Jazz cut an 18-point lead down to just 6 with 6:39 remaining. But as quickly as the Jazz got back into the game, they were right back out of it.
The Los Angeles Clippers went on a 12-0 run to restore order on their way to a 117-103 over the Jazz Friday at the Delta Center.
That run sent the momentarily lively sold-out crowd to an early exit.
On Wednesday, Luka Doncic made easy work of Utah's defense. On Friday, Kawhi Leonard got his turn.
The Clippers' All-Pro forward had a season-high 41 points, five assists and five rebounds; he shot 14-of-23 from the field and 6-of-8 from 3-point range.
Leonard's final two buckets — a one-handed 3-pointer to beat the shot clock and a midrange jump shot right over Jordan Clarkson — put a bow on a performance where he got every shot he wanted, no matter how well it was defended.
"Credit to the Clippers, Kawhi had a great game," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "If I was going to be critical of our group, I think there were a few too many face-up jump shots, rhythm jump shots off the dribble."
Those were shots that Leonard has made a career out of, and the Jazz couldn't keep pace.
John Collins had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Jazz; Keyonte George and Talen Horton-Tucker, who were the main driving factors in the late comeback, both finished with 15 points.
Hardy was complimentary of his team's effort, and liked how the ball moved and how Utah generated its shots. Sure, there were mistakes, but it was an improvement from the lethargic "masterpiece" of poor play from Friday.
A poor shooting night, though, had Utah playing catch-up all evening.
"I think the team tonight actually played pretty hard," Hardy said. "I think on the offensive side of the ball, we tried to play together. We tried to execute what we wanted to do and ultimately struggled to make shots tonight."
The Jazz shot just 9-of-31 from 3-point range, but it can be taken as a statement of the sobering reality check of the state of the team.
In a game in which Utah mostly played the right way, the Jazz still found themselves down by double digits for much of the night. Sometimes, the other team just had more talent, and that's what happened to the Jazz Friday.
Utah doesn't have the talent to match Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden — especially without Lauri Markkanen, who missed his seventh straight game with a hamstring strain.
Leonard and George combined for 61 points Friday, including 15 straight LA points in the closing minutes. Harden, meanwhile, added 12 points and eight assists in more of a distributor role for the Clippers.
"I mean, the margin of error is small as far as winning in this league," George said. "You can do everything the right way and still lose."
They're even smaller with Leonard playing at peak level.
Still, the Jazz thought it was a game they could at least build on.
"You've always got to take the good out of things," George said. "There's more good than bad. I feel like we communicated, I feel like we competed, but I think we've got another level that we can take it to."
