This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
On Thursday night, the Houston Rockets lost to the Phoenix Suns, effectively handing the Utah Jazz all rights to their first postseason berth since 2012.
On Friday night, the Jazz handed it right back to the Rockets.
Yes, Utah is still a game ahead of Houston for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference. But the Jazz put themselves in a precarious position on Friday, suffering an inexplicable 102-99 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in front of a stunned sellout crowd at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
"This was certainly a tough one all the way around," is how Jazz coach Quin Snyder put it.
The reality set in with Jamal Crawford's game-winning 3-point bomb with 0.2 seconds remaining. And it sunk in even further when Rodney Hood's desperation tip at the buzzer failed to come close to the rim: The Jazz lost to a Clippers team resting seemingly everyone but the team mascot.
Chris Paul? Resting. Blake Griffin? Resting. DeAndre Jordan? Resting. JJ Redick? You guessed it. Resting.
This version of the Clippers were playing Pablo Prigioni at point guard, and a rapidly aging Paul Pierce at small forward. Jamal Crawford was the only key piece playing regular minutes, and Pleasant Grove High product CJ Wilcox played 18 minutes.
This was supposed to be a lay-up for the Jazz, and they couldn't capitalize. Utah let Cole Aldrich score 21 points and grab 18 rebounds, probably representing his best game since his All-America days as a Kansas Jayhawk. Crawford scored 30, and Prigioni, who almost never plays, scored 13 points and added seven rebounds and seven assists.
"This was just a tough one tonight," Utah small forward Gordon Hayward said. "I think they got going early and hit some tough shots. They have some guys who can get into a rhythm and then it doesn't matter if you're playing good defense or not. I thought Favs [Derrick Favors] played good defense on Crawford's shot. He got a hand up and contested it, he's been doing it his whole career. We just didn't get stops when we needed to."
The fact that Utah had many chances to put the game away makes the defeat all the more painful. The Jazz had a 92-85 lead with four minutes remaining and couldn't close. They had a 92-90 advantage on the last possession of regulation, forced a miss from Aldrich and watched in surprise as Aldrich wrestled the offensive rebound from Favors and laid the ball in to force overtime.
The Clippers simply played like they wanted to win the game more than the Jazz, a shock considering Los Angeles had nothing to play for and Utah had everything to play for. The hustle plays, the loose balls, the defense, it all went the Clippers way on Friday night.
"We just didn't come out with the energy we needed to," Utah point guard Shelvin Mack said. "We let them hang around, and they still had some great players who made shots. We just didn't make the plays that we needed to down the stretch."
In a game where almost nobody played well for the Jazz, Hayward carried the load with 24 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots. Alec Burks — playing in his first game since December — scored 11 points in 13 minutes off the bench, giving Utah a shot of energy.
But the numbers were ugly for Utah, otherwise. The Jazz shot just 43 percent from the field and made just 11 of their 31 3-point attempts. The Jazz turned the ball over 18 times and handed out just 14 assists. In a game Utah had to win, the Jazz played careless for most of the night and paid for it at the end.
Now, Utah probably has to win its remaining three games in order to make the playoffs, starting Sunday on the road against the Denver Nuggets. Friday night's game against the shorthanded Clippers offered the Jazz a chance to give themselves some cushion in what's been a tight playoff race.
Now, the Jazz are right back on the brink.
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