Jazz’s offense runs out of steam in double-digit loss to Clippers

The absence of Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George and center Jusuf Nurkic was felt heavily against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. The Jazz’s offense stagnated, especially in the second half, and the Jazz lost 115-103.

The Jazz started well and played well, leading 29-18 after the first quarter. Los Angeles woke up in the second quarter, but the game remained close, with the Jazz leading 54-53 at halftime.

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The Jazz certainly don’t look pretty, but they are chasing a hot Clippers team that has won nine of their last 10 games. However, things took a turn for the worse in the second half.

“The big thing that needs to be addressed is we’re competing for focus for 48 minutes, and there’s a difference between execution and hope,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “I thought we executed really well in the two and a half quarters tonight.

“I felt like as soon as the third quarter started, we struggled. We lost some plot on both sides of the ball and the game just got away from you because other than that stretch, it was a close game against a good team.”

With George and Nurkic off the court, the ball started to stick together. The Jazz also made poor decisions, especially on offense. They took fewer set pieces and fell more into a improvised style of basketball.

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The Clippers, meanwhile, moved the ball better and got plenty of open looks from beyond the arc. Los Angeles shot 6 of 11 from 3-point range and took a double-digit lead.

“They are the best basketball players in the world and anyone can score, but there are better options in terms of the game and the people involved,” Hardy said. “I felt like at the beginning of the third quarter, we took a lot of offense to Kawhi Leonard and Kris Dunn. That’s not how you want to live.”

Once the Jazz fall behind, there is no chance for a comeback. The offense never recovered, scoring only 49 points in the second half. Tuesday’s game was Utah’s third straight loss.

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It’s not all bad. Several young players on the Jazz have shown some flashes of brilliance. Ace Bailey scored 20 points with a large number of three-pointers and became the Jazz’s scoring leader. Bailey made 4 of 9 three-pointers.

Cody Williams performed well as a starter, scoring 11 points, and was tasked with guarding either James Harden or Leonard for much of the night.

Isaiah Collier was the centerpiece of the Jazz’s offense with nine assists and 12 points.

“Our young players are really improving,” Hardy said.

“Every night we go out there and we have highlights. I thought Ace had a great game tonight. I thought Cody continued to show signs of a lot of improvement on both sides of the ball. I thought (Collier) prepared his teammates well tonight. So, we can always take some positives from watching our team play, but we’re fighting for a little more attention.”

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Tuesday was also Lauri Markkanen’s first night back after missing seven games. He looked a little rusty and finished with 19 points, but made just 5 of 15 shots that night.

“It just helped me regain my composure, obviously (I was) a little tired the first couple of poses,” Markkanen said.

“I thought my shot was a little short, but it slowly got my legs back and I started feeling better as we went along. (I) had a really good solid practice before coming back, so (I’m) recovering, but not an excuse. It felt good to be out there and give me that rhythm again.”