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Memphis, Tenn. • There's no question they were missing home. But before they'd get back there, the Utah Jazz ended up missing out on an opportunity.

The Jazz ended their five-game excursion east on a low note, falling 88-79 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night at FedEx Forum, wrapping up the trip with a 2-3 record.

"Obviously it's not the way you want to end it," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said after scoring a game-high 22 points in defeat.

As they had done a night earlier in Minnesota, the Jazz spent the fourth quarter digging out of a double-digit deficit. But against an older, tougher Grizzlies team, this time their rally fell short.

"We were eventually able to hit a couple shots and give us some life," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said, "but we had dug ourselves too big a hole previous to that to have any kind of effort in the fourth quarter really make a difference."

On Saturday, the Jazz did most of their digging late in third and through the first half of the fourth. With the Grizzlies already leading 57-51, Memphis knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the final four seconds of the third. That was the start of a 15-4 run over a stretch of about six minutes that pushed the lead as high as 17.

Blame it on tired legs. Blame it on a lackluster effort in a place known for slow and bruising battles. Either way, the Jazz looked out of sorts for much of the contest.

The Jazz shot just 38.9 percent from the floor. They connected on only 14 of their 23 free-throw attempts. And Utah turned the ball over 18 times, leading to 26 points for the Grizzlies on the night.

"That's what they do. They're good at it," Hayward said of the turnovers. "They've got guys that pressure the ball and are good defenders, forcing you to do things you don't want to do at times and speed you up. So part of that is on them, part of that is on us for letting them do that to us."

Still, Hayward lauded his team's fight late in their final game of the road trip, as the Jazz used an 11-point fourth from forward Trey Lyles to get within five with 1:10 to play.

They might have had a chance to make it a one possession game with 30 seconds to play, forcing Grizzlies center Marc Gasol to fire up a 3 as the shot clock approached zero. But instead Gasol jumped forward and drew a foul on Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who picked up a technical shortly thereafter, and iced the game with his free throws.

"Players are going to do it," Snyder said of Gasol's move to initiate the contact. "Smart players know how to draw fouls. I know if Rudy didn't leave his feet, he wouldn't have fouled him. You control what you can control."

Gobert, who dominated Gasol during Utah's trip to Memphis a month ago, finished this meeting with with just five points to go along 13 rebounds.

Gasol scored 17 points on 7-of-18 shooting and Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley had 19 points and nine assists to help lead Memphis to victory.

The Jazz (23-16) now return home, where they will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

afalk@sltrib.com Twitter: @aaronfalk —

Storylines

R The Jazz finish their road trip with a 2-3 record after dropping a 88-79 decision to the Grizzlies.

• For the first time this season, the Jazz lose a game in which both George Hill and Gordon Hayward play.

More coverage • Utah's Dante Exum is a healthy scratch for the third time. > B5