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Miami • Quin Snyder was blunt about his Utah Jazz in the days leading to their current road trip.
He knew the competition was steep enough that his team could do the right things, play well and still lose. And two defeats later, Snyder looks prophetic.
The Jazz played good basketball against the Miami Heat on Thursday night, certainly good enough to beat one of the Eastern Conference favorites. But they couldn't get over the mountain, losing 92-91 before a sellout crowd at American Airlines Arena.
A few possessions proved to be the difference for the Heat, including a jumper by Tyler Johnson that gave Miami an 88-84 lead with 39 seconds remaining. Alec Burks hit a 3-pointer for Utah that supplied the final score, making Johnson's big shot was the ultimate difference.
"The players are taking it tough and you want them to on some level," Snyder said. "I feel the same way, but there is a bigger picture here. So we can't be emotional or drained, because we play tomorrow."
The Jazz are 0-2 on the trip by a combined five points against arguably two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. Utah's three road defeats are by a combined 10 points.
Yet the frustration builds, because those are losses the Jazz want to turn into wins. Against the Heat, they had every chance. But Utah's shooting failed at the wrong times (4-21 from 3 on the night). The Jazz couldn't find an answer for Johnson, who scored 17 points off the bench. And Chris Bosh had his way offensively with 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
"It was another tough one tonight," Utah forward Gordon Hayward said. "Hopefully we can learn from it. We just have to stay with the process and stay with the system and just get ready for tomorrow. It's just a tough one tonight."
In falling to 4-4 on the season, the Jazz wasted a great performance by Derrick Favors. With Rudy Gobert out with a sprained ankle, Favors scored 25 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked a career-high seven shots. Hayward and Alec Burks were almost as good, scoring 24 points each.
But the Jazz were unbalanced against the Heat. They had six players score, and only four reached double figures. They shot 38 percent from the field, lost the rebounding battle 47-42 and notched only 13 assists on the evening.
So how was Utah in the game? The Jazz defended well. After a hot start by the Heat, who went up 9-0 in the opening minutes, Utah started clamping down on Miami's shooters. The Jazz stopped allowing the Heat guards to get into the lane, and they were able to slow the pace because of it.
The Jazz trailed 46-45 at halftime, forged a lead in the third quarter and were tied at 66 heading into the fourth quarter. But as was the case on Thursday night in Cleveland, Utah didn't execute at a high level during the waning moments.
And that's what ultimately cost the Jazz.
"I think it's a couple of shots here and there, a couple of stops here or there and it's a different game," Hayward said. "It's right there. We got some really good looks tonight and for whatever reason they didn't fall. The good news is we got the shots we wanted. We just didn't get a chance to knock them down."
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Storylines
R Derrick Favors starts at center with Rudy Gobert out and scores 25 points, grabs 12 rebounds and blocks seven shots.
• The Jazz again struggle from 3-point range, shooting 4 for 17 with 10 consecutive misses to start the game.
• Four Jazz players score in double figures but the point guard position produces only six points.