Another 20-plus point lead, another loss.
Such failures are almost par for the course when it comes to the Utah Jazz this season. They led Golden State on Saturday night at one time by 21 points and even held a 103-87 lead held with 7:54 left in the game.
Easy W, one would think. Well, that’s when things went south, as they have tended to do over the last 12 months.
The Warriors strung together six unanswered threes, four by Klay Thompson, and took a 103-102 lead. The game wasn’t over but with the Chase Center rockin’ and the Dubs stealing the moment, it kind of was over.
JORDAN POOLE FOR 3.
18-0 WARRIORS RUN TO TAKE THE LEAD.
WATCH: https://t.co/oz9UCQxdQa pic.twitter.com/OwovAPhLN7
— NBA (@NBA) April 3, 2022
We knew it, the Warriors knew it and the Jazz certainly knew it. But, how?
The 2021-22 Jazz are no strangers to letting go of the rope — they’d lost 14 games in which they’d at some point led by double-digits, prior to Saturday’s collapse.
For the second time this week, the Utah Jazz found a way to throw a totally winnable game away in just a short manner. On Tuesday, they built up a lead as large as 25 points against the Clippers and watched it all crumble, similar to how they did in Game 6 of the 2021 conference semis.
"I don't even know what to say… It's the same shit. I mean yeah it feels the same way. It's the same thing. This is literally the same thing… I don't know what to say."
Donovan Mitchell on Jazz blowing 25-point 2nd half lead to Clippers. pic.twitter.com/uhANFbusvn
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 30, 2022
Utah is currently the No. 5 seed out West but Saturday’s defeat puts them just two games out of the seventh spot.
On the bright side, the Jazz should feel good about being able to constantly outplay teams and produce big leads. But with the postseason nearing, they’ll need to figure out how to keep it together for a full 48 minutes.
These losses have to stink, though.
