The Utah Jazz Have To Find The Ability To Close Out Games

By Jared Woodcox | Dec 2, 2015

The inability to finish has been a longtime problem for the Utah Jazz and it did them in once again against the Golden State Warriors.

The Utah Jazz hung in with the Golden State Warriors every step of the way on Monday night. Down by one, with 16 seconds left in the game and the ball in their hands, it looked like the Jazz had a real chance to end the Warriors’ perfect streak. Yet Rodney Hood‘s shot was off, the rebound was secured by Golden State, and, in the end, the Jazz came up short, falling 106-103 to the reigning NBA Champions.

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There were undoubtedly several positive takeaways from the game. The fact that the Jazz didn’t get absolutely blown out of the water by such an elite team is a testament in and of itself that they are growing. Despite not having their first option at point guard, the Jazz shut reigning MVP Stephen Curry down for the better part of three quarters.

Yes, he came alive and sunk the Jazz in the fourth quarter, but overall he was kept in check.

But despite all the moral victories and the overall reassuring performance, the fact still remains that the Jazz lost a game that they had a legitimate opportunity to win. Regardless of who the competition is, the Jazz have to find a way to take advantage of the opportunities given them.

Monday’s loss highlights two key questions for Utah. First, when will we see the solid team (that still has a lot it can improve upon) that showed up against Golden State on a nightly basis? Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, when is this team going to learn how to finish games?

Even though the Jazz by no means played a flawless game against the Warriors, it was clear from the get-go that they were locked in and ready to play. That focus and determination carrying over throughout the game is the major reason why Utah was able to stay competitive for four quarters.

The Jazz’s key five players, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, Alec Burks and the aforementioned Hood, all scored in double figures. It was the kind of team effort that has to occur night in and night out. If the Jazz would’ve played with the focus and energy that they played with against the Warriors in previous games this season, many of their narrow losses would’ve likely turned into victories.

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This brings up the other key point which has been the Jazz’s inability to finish close games. Hood stated the obvious when he said the final play broke down. While it wasn’t the worst shot the Jazz could have taken, it would have been a lot better to see the ball in Hayward’s, Burks’ or Favors’ hands as they had all been in a better shooting rhythm that night.

Shooting with nine seconds left on the clock was pretty questionable as well. Sure, it’s a great idea to leave time for a rebound with the long arms of Gobert looming under the rim, but there was still plenty of time for an extra pass before time expired.

In order for the Jazz to finish games, there has to be better execution across the board. Not only should the end-of-game execution be sharper, but there were mistakes that could have been cleaned up all throughout the game. It seemed whenever the Jazz were about to make a big run, a turnover or sloppy defense allowed the Warriors to instantly regain control.

If you need any further evidence of this, just check out Ian Clark’s 12 points. While the Jazz truly did a great job at keeping turnovers down over the course of the game, the ones that came at costly moments were absolutely devastating.

Nevertheless, despite the miscues and the questionable final look that the Jazz got in the game against Golden State, the fact remains that they were only one basket away from knocking off the defending champs. They played well enough for over 47 minutes to put themselves one possession away from winning, but were ultimately unable to capitalize and close out the game.

This is a problem that is by no means foreign to the Utah Jazz. This season, four of their eight losses have been by five points or less. Going back to last season, the Jazz lost 20 games by six points or less. If they had found a way to win even half of those games, they would have finished the season with 48 wins, good for the eighth seed in the West.

“We can be great. Not good, great. [The Warriors are] the best team in the league and we’re right there.” – Rudy Gobert

Following this most recent loss, Gobert was quoted saying, “We can be great. Not good, great. [The Warriors are] the best team in the league and we’re right there.”

Gobert is spot on. The Jazz can be great. But it has to start with improving their focus and using that improvement to finish games. Their 8-8 record is currently good enough to put them in the top 8 in the Western Conference. However, it’s more than likely that a .500 record won’t be good enough to make the playoffs come April.

Almost winning is no longer sufficient and with the comments that Gobert and the rest of his teammates made last night, it appears that they’re beginning to realize that.

Reaching greatness can no longer be a distant future goal, it has to start to happen now. The Jazz have learned to stick with great teams. If they can learn to finish them off, they will become a great team themselves.