This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

So, as it turns out, the Jazz, to quote Miracle Max, are only partly dead.

Not all the way dead.

With Rudy Gobert out, only mostly dead.

Even with an all-time performance from Gordon Hayward, who scored more points in one quarter than any Jazz player ever had in a playoff game — 21 in the first — and who scored 40 in total, the Jazz could not hang on to win, losing to the Clippers in Game 3 on Friday night, 111-106, falling behind in this first-round series, 2-1.

As one star — Gobert — sat, Hayward did everything he could to breathe life into his team, to put the word super in front of his star. He hit bombs, runners, jumpers, floaters, shots of all kinds, but, ultimately, could not buoy the Jazz through a second half that sank them.

Hayward's effort was gutty and noble, he gave what he could, but it did not matter, despite otherwise mostly favorable circumstances. He was 13 of 21 from the floor, including 4 for 8 from three. He had eight boards and four assists.

Plainly put, he deserved a win. He fed off the crowd and fed it back.

"He had a great game," Snyder said. "… Now, he has to do it again."

In hopes of a better result.

As Hayward's team readied itself in the minutes just prior to the start, they steadied themselves, too. The building felt like it might lift off its foundation, it felt like something big was happening, it felt like … well, it felt like the old days, back when Stockton and Malone played, back when playoff games really meant something around here.

And then, quarter by quarter, minute by minute, possession by possession, the eruptive force of a home crowd that hadn't fully blown off or blown in pressure for five years filled that space, again and again, in a manner that hadn't been experienced since … you know when.

The homers — as Chris Paul called them — in the seats were like a heated cache of nitroglycerin.

It psyched up Hayward's Jazz, and only slightly troubled the Clippers. "You try to balance it," Snyder said. "Usually intensity at home is a positive. You can feel the excitement, and you want to use it."

So, Hayward and his 'mates did, at least to start, the building's energy seemingly helping them to execute and communicate. Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey had said communication in so much friendly noise would be a key. He was right.

The greatest need, in the absence of Gobert, was for the Jazz to find their range and hit shots. "That's the great equalizer," Snyder said beforehand. "Having the confidence to take the shots and to make them. We've got to generate those shots. I hope we hit some."

Hayward did.

Snyder's hope was found early on by the All-Star — and then, slowly, it gave way to the Clippers. The Jazz simply could not prevent L.A. from making shots enough to win. The Jazz were accurate from the jump, scoring 34 points in the opening period, many of them coming on Hayward's perimeter shots, some on sweet assists. The Clips, at times, appeared to be heaving steel beams into the back of a two-ton. Bit by bit, they settled in enough to smooth their nerves and their synapses, narrowing an early 14-point deficit.

Snyder's equalizer — ripped nets — boosted the Clips, too.

As Gobert watched from behind the bench, the Jazz offense popped, then, later too often ground to a halt.

On the Jazz's defensive end, the Clips attempted to trample, once again, the man-down resistance, to own the paint they dominated in Game 2.

That didn't work, hampered when Blake Griffin left the game in the second period with a bruised toe, never to return. DeAndre Jordan got his first dunk midway through the third.

The Jazz attempted to stop Paul — 34 points, 10 assists — and his masterful pick-and-roll game, a double-barreled force that is imperative to at least interrupt. "He has command of every situation," Lindsey said, comparing him to John Stockton. " … They're the third-best offense in the league."

Paul is great.

Great enough to erase one of the Jazz's all-time-best individual playoff performances, great enough to spoil what should have been a most satisfying night for Hayward. It. Was. Not.

Paul killed that satisfaction. And that cost the Jazz the lead in this series. Even with Hayward going off in Game 3, turned out, Snyder's great equalizer cut both ways. It gave the Clippers a lead that is now the Jazz's challenge to overcome.

Said Hayward: "We got it rolling ... and then we couldn't find it."

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checkouts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM. Twitter: @GordonMonson.