Utah Jazz kept playing and playing, but fall in 4OT to Atlanta Hawks

Millsap grabbed an offensive rebound to give the Jazz had yet another chance to win it in triple OT, but his jumper at the buzzer bounced away.

"If I could get them back, it would be great. It happens," Millsap said of squandered potential game-winners. "Our team fought. We fought to the end. We can't ask for anything more than that."

That didn't seem like it would even be possible considering how poorly the Jazz played in the first half, when they fell behind by as many as 17 points by struggling on both ends of the court.

Utah opened the second half (second third?) on an 11-0 run as the starters came out strong, and the Jazz took a four-point lead in the fourth quarter after Derrick Favors and the reserves gave them a solid boost.

But unlike in recent games against the Timberwolves, Warriors, Thunder and Kings, the Jazz lacked a knockout punch on this night.

"That was a tough game, and a tough game to lose," Hayward said. "We certainly showed what we're made of with how we came back in the second half."

Joe Johnson led the Hawks to the win on the final night of a back-to-back-to-back with 37 points, including a game-clinching jumper that put Atlanta up by four with 16.9 remaining in the fourth OT.

Corbin praised his players' effort, toughness and fight in the bitter aftermath.

The second-year coach also defended his decision to stick with his starters for almost all of the four overtimes despite their massive minutes. Jefferson, Millsap and Miles only left the game in OOOOT because they fouled out.

"The matchups were right. They were in the game. It's tough to come in those situations after being out, be ready to go," Corbin said. "I thought they were fresh enough. These guys (Hawks) had a played a couple of games in a row, so I felt good about the rotations we had on the floor."

The Jazz might shorten starters' usual rotations to keep them fresh in a back-to-back situation, Corbin said. Assuming, that is, they freshen up after this grueling duel.

"These type of games they hurt," Jefferson said. "But at the end of the day, we didn't give up and we kept playing hard, so now we've just got to put it behind us and get ready for (tonight)."

Jefferson admitted it was a tough game to play, but it was even tougher to watch after he fouled out.

"Of course I wanted to stay out there," Big Al said. "My leg was cramping. I got fatigued, but … every timeout we had I took advantage of it. I wanted to play. … It was hard to sit and watch (after fouling out). I wanted to be out there."