This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
If the Utah Jazz lose to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, and the Houston Rockets defeat the Philadelphia 76ers, both likely occurrences, the Jazz will be three games behind Houston in the race to secure a playoff spot.
At this point however, the Jazz have other things to worry about. Yes, even other than making the postseason, which is pretty important. Simply put, they need a solid 48-minute effort, something they haven't had consistently in a long time.
Utah's 91-84 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in front of 19,282 at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Tuesday night continues to expose a season-long issue at the point guard spot. And in taking care of the ball. And at that little offense thing in general.
And teams have been picking at those deficiencies like a scab.
"I thought we played well in the first quarter, and then Atlanta did things that bothered us and we turned the ball over," Utah coach Quin Snyder said. "When teams raise their level, we have to respond, and we haven't been doing that."
The Jazz continue to go through long scoring droughts. They continue to cough up double-digit leads. They continue to turn the ball over, and teams have been taking advantage of that for two weeks. As a result, the Jazz have been playing their worst basketball of the season, at the worst time.
They didn't get it done on Tuesday night. Instead, the Jazz played well for the first 16 minutes, punctuating the effort by a Joe Ingles four-point play that gave Utah a 35-22 advantage over the Hawks.
Then everything stopped working.
The Jazz offense went missing, and the defense went awry. The Hawks used Jeff Teague's playmaking, Paul Millsap's interior scoring and their own defense to take control of the game. By halftime, the Hawks pulled within 42-41. By the time Kyle Korver hit a deep 3-pointer from the wing in the middle of the third quarter, Atlanta had a 58-49 advantage and the game felt over.
"I felt like as soon as we made adjustments in our pick-and-roll defense, that changed the whole game," Hawks center Al Horford said. "Our guards did a great job of contesting, it was amazing. It was probably one of the best jobs we've done all year."
The Jazz never quit, and they consistently battled back, getting as close as 80-77 late in the fourth quarter when Gordon Hayward hit a floater in the paint. But Teague then took over, scoring consistently down the stretch and finishing with a game-high 24 points.
Utah's now lost six of its last seven games. The Jazz have coughed up a double-digit lead in five consecutive games and officially fall two games behind the Rockets in the race for the eighth spot.
On Tuesday night, Utah's shooting abandoned it at the wrong time. The Jazz shot 34 percent overall and hit just seven of their 26 3-point attempts. Even with Utah working up the big first half lead, the Jazz never got even after they surrendered that lead. Utah turned the ball over 20 times, and notched just 16 assists. The Hawks took full advantage, scoring 26 points off those miscues.
"I think they're a good defensive team, so you have to tip your hat to them," Hayward said. "They were good tonight at shutting down the pass, and forcing midrange looks. You miss a few, and you start forcing passes that aren't there and that's when turnovers happen."
Hayward led the Jazz with 22 points and six rebounds. Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood scored 16 points each, and Rudy Gobert grabbed 15 rebounds in 33 minutes.
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Storylines
R The Jazz fall to 29-34 on the season, after losing for the sixth time in their past seven games.
• Utah scores 30 points combined in the second and third quarters.
• The Jazz shoot 7 of 26 from 3-point range.