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Los Angeles • Rodney Hood still remembers the Utah Jazz's most important loss of last season.

Making the playoffs came down to beating the Dallas Mavericks in their home finale. The Jazz failed to get that win and watched helplessly as the Houston Rockets sneaked into the postseason.

Entering this year's playoffs, many picked the Los Angeles Clippers to win the series because of their playoff experience.But it's the Jazz who are a win away from advancing to the second round for the first time since 2010. And a huge reason why is because the Jazz have been the more composed team through the first five games.

"We've learned a lot from close losses," Hood said after Tuesday night's Game 5 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Joe Johnson has been clutch. Hood's jumper returned from a month-long hiatus. Gordon Hayward found a way to beat food poisoning and the defense of Luc Mbah A Moute. And Rudy Gobert survived a knee injury and returned as his dominant self.

"We were the youngest team in the league last year by certain measures," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "I think adding George [Hill] and Joe and Boris [Diaw] has given some confidence to our group. This just didn't happen during the playoffs. I think the moment hasn't been too big for our guys."

Hayward and Hood recall the close losses of the past two seasons. They remember the missed shots down the stretch and the feeling of losing winnable games. It's all played a hand in how the Jazz have performed against the Clippers.

Utah answered every time Los Angeles made a run in Game 5. The Jazz responded with eight consecutive points after the Clippers scored 11 straight in the fourth quarter. When Los Angeles threatened to tie the game late, the Jazz counterpunched.

George Hill nailed four free throws down the stretch.

Johnson hit a jumper in the lane with 19 seconds remaining.

"I think a lot of what we've been through the last three years, it's helped us where we're at right now," Hayward said. "I remember talking about that at the times we lost some of those games. We talked about being successful and learning from it all. We knew we would be able to use some of those experiences later, and I think that's helping us right now."

The Clippers have thrown everything they have at the Jazz. Chris Paul has been dominant, even throwing some elbows to try to bully the Jazz. Jordan has unleashed ferocious dunks.

None of it has worked.

"The guys are kind of growing up in the moment," Johnson said. "These guys have never been in this situation, so to have this threat waiting for us and to come out with a win was important."

Twitter: @tribjazz