With a series win on the line in Game 5, the Utah Jazz blew a 25-point second-half lead to the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road. Despite the heartbreaking loss, Jazz fans have plenty of reasons to stay optimistic going into Game 6.
How are we doing today, Jazz Nation? Still alive?
After a second-half performance like the Jazz had on Wednesday, it’s easy to lose proper perspective. I am here to remind everyone of what Rudy Gobert told us back in January…
We will be fine
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) January 6, 2018
Rudy’s words hold as true as ever today. If you don’t believe me (or Rudy), read on.
As of this writing It’s been almost 24 hours since the unthinkable happened. After Utah built a 25-point lead in the third quarter of Wednesday’s closeout game, the premature victory lap tweets began to roll in from far and wide across Jazz Twitter.
I even had a Tweet dedicating the game to Enes Kanter all queued up. However, for fear of an embarrassing collapse, I decided to hold off on posting it until the series was locked up. I am SO glad that I did.
The optimism of Utah’s chances in a second-round matchup with the Rockets were quickly forgotten as Utah blew their lead and eventually fell to the Thunder and Russell Westbrook’s 45-point effort.
Despite the collapse, it’ll all be okay, Jazz fans.
Here are three reasons that Jazz fans should be confident that Gobert and Co. will close things out on Friday night in Salt Lake City.