Utah Jazz fall on the road to Clippers

LOS ANGELES — They trailed from wire-to-wire, though only by a whisker late.

And by the time it seemed like they'd finally been put out of their misery, realization of just what they let slip away perhaps proved even more torturous.

The Jazz fell 108-104 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night at Staples Center, the only other time besides a Feb. 2 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers they've been behind the whole way after their opponent scored first.

"We waited until the end of the game to show a little energy," coach Jerry Sloan said, "and that's the kiss of death most of the time."

Though down 17 midway through the fourth quarter, Utah — after point guard Deron Williams' steal from Baron Davis, fastbreak layup and ensuing free throw — was within two with just more than 40 seconds remaining.

But Williams, after another Davis turnover, missed two free throws that could have tied the game at 103 with 16.6 seconds left. And with the Jazz down by four one possession later, he rifled out-of-bounds a pass intended for 20-point team-high scorer Carlos Boozer.

"We gave ourselves a chance at the end of the game," Williams said, "and then the end was on me, missing two free throws, having a turnover."

"You can't do anything about it," Sloan added when asked about the missed freebies. "It makes a huge difference in the game, but life goes on."

Life would be more enjoyable for the Jazz, though, if this one turned out like a recent one at Portland when Utah rallied from 25 down to win in overtime.

"You just hope that we don't wait until the last three minutes to play, so you don't put yourself in those things," Sloan said. "That's the thing that makes it difficult. Because when you rely on miracles a lot of times they don't always pop up your way."

Consequences were monumental, indeed.

Utah's loss was its third in five games.

The 38-22 Jazz are back to .500 on the road, 14-14.

And, most critically, they failed to take advantage of Denver's Monday loss at Phoenix and pull into what could have been a tie with the Northwest Division-leading (and tie breaker-holding) Nuggets.

Instead, Utah remains fourth in the NBA's Western Conference behind the Lakers, Dallas and Denver — and is now just one game up on fifth-place Phoenix, which it visits Thursday and again later this month.