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Los Angeles • They weren't packing up, but the Utah Jazz were still packing earlier than they wanted to be this week.
Their dream of having home-court advantage to start the playoffs died on the last night of the regular season, forcing Rudy Gobert and his teammates to open up their first-round series with the Clippers on the road.
"We know it's going to be a hostile atmosphere," Gobert said Friday, just before his team boarded a plane bound for Los Angeles. "It's playoffs."
The Clippers, however, know that simply playing in front of their home fans doesn't guarantee anything.
"We've lost at home about every playoff series, or something like that," point guard Chris Paul said this week.
In 2012, the San Antonio Spurs won two in a row at Staples Center to bounce the Clippers from the second round of the playoffs. In 2014, the Oklahoma City Thunder celebrated a decisive Game 6 victory on the Clippers' home court.
Paul's teams have also suffered home playoff defeats to the Memphis Grizzlies in 2013, the Houston Rockets in 2015, and the Portland Trail Blazers last season.
"We have to help, but we have to make our home court a real home-court advantage," Paul said. "We've got to give our fans something to cheer about, just have an edge all game long, whether you're up, you're down."
The Jazz and Clippers ended the season with identical records, 51-31, but Los Angeles had a 3-1 record against Utah in the regular season, forcing the Jazz to tip off on the road.
"I'm sure it will be a hostile environment," Jazz forward Joe Johnson said. "But I think it will be a great lesson for us, especially for a lot of guys who haven't been in the playoffs, to really see what it's like to have a hostile crowd against you. We've all sat and talked about it, but we really won't really know and understand until we get in that environment."
Some in the Jazz locker room have said they don't believe losing out on home-court advantage will matter, that they will have to win on the road regardless if they want to win the series.
But there's no doubt that the possibility of playing a decisive Game 7 in Salt Lake City would have put the Clippers in a difficult spot.
Just ask Paul.
"Utah, the one thing I always say about Utah is they have an arena full of homers," the Clippers point guard said. "You know what I mean? Like you don't see too many opposing jerseys scattered around. Everybody there is usually cheering for Utah and it's an exciting place to play. They really support their team. They cheer for them. Tough environment. I can't imagine what it's like in there during the playoffs, but we'll see soon enough."
Just not as soon as Jazz fans would have hoped.
Twitter: @aaronfalk