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NBA games in February don't typically mean a whole lot.

But when the Jazz and the Clippers tipped off Monday night in Salt Lake City, with Utah a half-game ahead in the standings and temporary control of fourth place in the West on the line, Quin Snyder wanted to see what his squad was made of.

The coach, like most of the 19,000-plus fans there, left Vivint Smart Home Arena feeling let down.

"If there's something that we held back, it shouldn't have been tonight," Snyder said after Utah's 88-72 defeat. ""You could have that explanation for some games, but this is a game … I'm disappointed."

If this was a playoff preview- Jazz fans might want to close their eyes for the real thing. The Clippers set the tone from the outset and the Jazz, suddenly losers of three straight, never mounted a serious attack.

"We didn't play with force and we looked kind of nervous offensively," said Jazz center Rudy Gobert, who finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds. "We looked like we weren't moving the ball like we used to, having fun like we used to."

The Jazz hit on just four of their 23 looks from behind the arc. They missed 59 of their 87 shots in all. Forward Derrick Favors led Utah with 13 points, one of just three Jazzmen to reach double-figures. It was the team's lowest point total since January 2015 and its lowest field-goal percentage (32.2) since December 2011.

"We got some good looks early, we just didn't knock them down," said all-star forward Gordon Hayward, who finished with just seven points on 2-of-12 shooting. "Some days are like that in this league. It's unfortunate that against this team we had a night like tonight. I know we wanted to come out and play well, but sometimes that happens."

It wasn't what happened that seemed to bother Snyder as much as how it happened.

"They had a lot more resolve on their defensive end than we did on our offensive end," the coach said. "… If we were to amok couple shots, it would have just masked the fact that we didn't have any toughness on the offensive end."

The Clippers controlled both ends, even without star point guard Chris Paul in the lineup.

Forward Blake Griffin scored a game-high 26 points to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists. Guard Austin Rivers chipped in 15 points of his own.

"We know coming in it's going to be a fight," Rivers said of facing the Jazz. "We can't come in and play soft and not play hard against these guys or you're going to get embarrassed. So it's one of those games you're going to have to get up for."

It's a lesson the Jazz would do well to learn.

With 26 games still left on their schedule, Utah (34-22) has plenty of basketball left to play as they fight for their first playoff berth in five years. But as the slid back into fifth place Monday-a spot that would mean starting the playoffs in Los Angeles as things currently stand-the Jazz do know that a game like Monday's could come back to haunt them.

"When it's a game like that, we had to know that it's a game we can regret at the end of the season," Gobert said. "Maybe we can lose two positions in the rankings if you lose that kind of game."

Twitter: @aaronfalk Turning point

The Clippers began the game on a 9-2 run and never looked back. As has become a norm, the Jazz begin a game on their home floor flatly, and they couldn't regain their edge.

Key number

19 • Utah misses 19 of its 23 3-point attempts, a deadly number for the Jazz, because their offense needs makes from distance.

Up next

The Jazz take their 3-game losing streak into Wednesday against Portland.

Clippers 88, Jazz 72

FG FT Reb

L.A.C. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Griffin 33:33 11-18 3-4 2-10 6 1 26

M. a Moute 37:43 2-5 0-0 1-5 2 3 5

Jordan 31:09 5-7 0-2 2-13 1 1 10

Redick 25:05 3-10 1-1 0-2 1 2 9

Rivers 32:28 6-12 0-0 0-3 3 3 15

Crawford 22:28 5-9 0-0 0-2 1 1 11

Felton 21:20 1-8 0-0 1-4 2 4 2

Speights 15:09 2-7 2-2 0-7 0 2 7

W.Johnson 10:06 0-1 1-2 0-2 0 2 1

Anderson 10:06 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 2

Stone 0:53 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Totals 240:00 36-81 7-11 6-49 16 19 88

Percentages: FG .444, FT .636. 3-Point Goals: 9-25, .360 (Rivers 3-4, Redick 2-7, Griffin 1-1, Mbah a Moute 1-2, Crawford 1-3, Speights 1-4, Anderson 0-1, W.Johnson 0-1, Felton 0-2). Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: 13 (16 PTS). Blocked Shots: 7 (Jordan 3, Griffin 2, Speights, W.Johnson). Turnovers: 13 (Crawford 5, Rivers 3, Redick 2, Speights 2, Felton). Steals: 7 (Crawford 2, Mbah a Moute 2, Jordan, Redick, W.Johnson). Technical Fouls: None.

FG FT Reb

Utah Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Favors 23:35 5-11 3-6 1-3 1 2 13

Hayward 29:09 2-12 2-2 0-5 0 0 7

Ingles 21:34 2-4 2-2 0-4 0 2 7

Gobert 24:51 5-12 0-0 8-14 1 1 10

Hill 26:08 2-11 1-2 0-1 1 2 6

J.Johnson 28:19 2-6 0-0 1-6 3 0 4

Burks 22:02 3-8 0-0 0-2 1 1 7

Exum 21:52 4-8 2-2 0-3 3 2 10

Diaw 17:53 2-3 0-2 0-3 4 1 4

Lyles 13:29 0-9 2-2 1-7 0 0 2

Neto 5:49 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2

Withey 5:19 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 0

Totals 240:00 28-87 12-18 12-49 14 11 72

Percentages: FG .322, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 4-23, .174 (Burks 1-2, Ingles 1-2, Hayward 1-6, Hill 1-6, J.Johnson 0-1, Exum 0-2, Lyles 0-4). Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 10 (9 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Favors 2, Gobert, Withey). Turnovers: 10 (Burks 3, Ingles 3, Diaw 2, J.Johnson 2). Steals: 5 (Favors 2, Burks, Diaw, Exum). Technical Fouls: Hill, 2:54 first.

L.A. Clippers 18 27 31 12 — 88

Utah 19 15 15 23 — 72

Attendance • 19,521

Time • 1:59.

Officials • Ed Malloy, James Williams, Haywoode Workman