:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62653650/620180840.jpg.0.jpg)
Just as the Utah Jazz start to get a little bit of momentum and pick up a couple of nice wins, they lay an egg and beat themselves. The Jazz faced off against a San Antonio Spurs team that they beat soundly earlier in the week and should have had a chance to beat tonight. Instead, they put themselves in an impossible situation by going down big at halftime.
It’s hard to pinpoint one specific thing that caused this loss tonight, but if we were to pick one, it would probably be the momentum shifting 17-0 run at the end of the first quarter, beginning of the second.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13614709/620180856.jpg.jpg)
As mentioned, the first half for the Jazz was pretty rough to say the least. Not only could they not take care of the ball effectively, they also could not stop the Spurs from scoring.
DeMar DeRozan finished with 16 at the half and LaMarcus Aldridge added 14. The Jazz did start the game pretty well, to be fair. The problems really started when the benches started to check in and the Jazz could not stop guys like Marco Belinelli and Patty Mills. That combined with shooting just 36% from the floor did the Jazz in for the first half and led to an 18-point hole going into the break.
The team showed some good fight to get back into it in the second half. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points, all in the second half, but it just wasn’t enough. After putting up a lot of points in the third quarter, the Jazz clawed their way back to within 5 points in the fourth quarter, but were never able to get any closer than that. The team showed good heart in this game, but give credit to San Antonio for shooting lights out and killing the Jazz from the mid range.
They are back in action tomorrow night against the Oklahoma City Thunder at 6 p.m. Let’s hope they can forget about this one quickly and get back on the right track.