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SALT LAKE CITY — It was almost like Jazz fans knew what was coming.
For much of the season, the Utah faithful have supported the win-repellant Jazz to a near-crazy degree. Sure, ticket prices have been cheap — the second-hand market often gets close to giveaway level — but the Delta Center has been pretty much packed every night.
Not on Monday, though. Large chunks of the upper bowl featured empty seats, with entire rows being vacant.
So what did those usual die-hard fans miss? In short, some pretty youthful moments from the shorthanded Jazz as they fell 114-112 to the Portland Trail Blazers.
How bad were some of those moments?
Over an 8:14 span to end the first half and start the second, the Jazz made just one basket — a running halfcourt heave by Isaiah Collier at the halftime buzzer. It took that flukey shot to stop what would have been more than an eight-minute drought. Gulp.
"It's a good way to tie in a message that we've been working on all year with the team, which is about minimizing the tough stretches; and, ultimately, the second quarter costs us tonight," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "We won the other three quarters."
So what went wrong during that stretch?
Portland's physicality pushed Utah off its spots ... which led to the ball sticking ... which led to poor shots ... which led to bad defense ... which led to some ugly minutes of basketball.
"We didn't handle the pressure as well as we did for the remainder of the game, and then that bled into our defense where our shifts weren't as tight, our communication wasn't as good; and as much as coaches wish it wasn't the case, sometimes the offense getting a little bit off-kilter does impact some of the fire on defense," Hardy said.
Related: The Jazz shot under 39% from the field.
Crazy enough, though, that stretch didn't end Utah's chances on Monday.
Portland also had plenty of hiccups on Monday (those upper-bowl fans chose a decent game to sit out) — and Utah even took the lead in the fourth quarter when Brice Sensabaugh drained a 3-pointer to finish off a 20-6 run.
Sensabaugh finished with 21 points to lead the Jazz, who were without Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Walker Kessler, Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton.
Kyle Filipowski — who got the start in place of Kessler and had one of his best games of the year (20 points and 11 rebounds) — made two free throws with 52 seconds left to make it a 3-point game.
Alas, Keyonte George — who struggled to a 6-of-22 night — made an ill-fate drive with 15 seconds left instead of looking for a 3-pointer, which helped seal Utah's fate. But George did try his darndest to bring the Jazz back.
The second-year guard hit two heavily contested 3-pointers in the final 11.7 seconds and then got a look at a third that would have won the game. His off-balance attempt, though, hit the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
"Key just hit two, so that was the main focus," said Cody Williams, who inbounded the ball on the final possession. "Obviously, you take what's available, but you know he has a hot hand so give it to him."
Hardy said he liked the end-of-the-game execution, especially how the team didn't use a timeout with eight seconds left and instead George pushed the ball up and made a tough 3-pointer.
"That's what those moments require," Hardy said. "So there's a lot to learn from this game. It'll be a good opportunity tomorrow to get back on the practice court, watch a bunch of film, clean up some of those things, and on we go."
