Jamaal Tinsley, Marvin Williams and Hayward sparked a Jazz comeback, and Utah pulled within seven points early in the fourth. The visitors could never get closer than eight after that, though, and their 20 team turnovers and erratic play prevented another heroic comeback win.
"They just came out at halftime and made their run," Jefferson said. "We had a fighting chance in the fourth quarter and things just didn't go our way."
A big reason for that, of course, is because of the up-close-and-personal experience they had with the Heat's versatility. Miami shot 52.1 percent, hit 11 of 24 3-pointers, received 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists from Dwyane Wade, and minimized the Jazz's size advantage on a night Chris Bosh didn’t play because of the flu.
"When they're hitting shots, it is frustrating because they are pretty tough to stop one-on-one," Hayward said. "So when you get help and they drive and kick and they are being unselfish and making the extra pass, they are a good team."
The Jazz continue their four-game pre-Christmas trip with a final stop in Orlando today (4 p.m., MST). A win could salvage this rough journey for Utah, which fell to 14-14 and 5-12 on the road.
"We always have pressure on us to get a win. Every night," Corbin said. "We have another game (Sunday). We're going in expecting to win."
"We have one more (Sunday) and it would be the second road trip that we can finish off 2-2," Jefferson added. "It's not the end of it."
NOTES: Williams' status for tonight's game seems doubtful. Corbin wouldn’t say whether Tinsley or Watson will start if he can't go. The Jazz bench outscored the starters 49-40. James was not whistled for a personal foul, increasing his streak of penalty-free play to 250 minutes (six-and-a-half games). He did get slapped with a technical foul, though. The Heat improved to 18-6, tying a franchise record, with their fourth win in a row.
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Corbin has had enough time to show us if he's head coaching material or not. He's not.
He has been successful in coaching them to be inconsistant