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The Utah Jazz have been at the top of the league for most of this NBA season. On its face, that's obviously a tremendous accomplishment. But holding the crown for so long does come with repercussions, especially in this condensed Covid-19 impacted season.
Jordan Clarkson spoke at length about how the Jazz faced a “hangover” of sorts, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune's Eric Walden.
Jordan, continued: "It's something we definitely had to fight through, mentally. … I'm not gonna lie — this season has been grueling and tiring. But we came here to work, we came here to win."
— tribjazz (@tribjazz) May 9, 2021
The fact that Clarkson is calling an 8-point victory over the Houston Rockets a “slip-up” shows just how far the Jazz have come this season. The game was actually much less close than the single-digit deficit suggests, as the Jazz led the entire way throughout the second half.
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If anything, Utah squandered some of their 22 point lead that they held with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter. But even then, the end result was never really threatened.
Truth be told, the loss wouldn't have been the end of the world for the Jazz. They wouldn't still held a half game lead over the Phoenix Suns, who have a much more challenging end-of-season slate facing teams all with playoff aspirations.
The Jazz were also on the second night of a back-to-back, besting Nikola Jokic in a hard-fought battle against the Denver Nuggets. Lest we forget, the Jazz are doing this without arguably their best player in Donovan Mitchell. They're ripped off five wins in a row, and are 8-4 ever since Spida was sidelined with injury.
These aren't your same old Utah Jazz. As the playoffs draw closer, they'll finally get a chance to prove it when it matters.
