Utah Jazz close preseason on 7-game losing skid

Corbin: "We're not happy with it. But … we made some strides."
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Anaheim, Calif. • It was a preseason marked by losses.

There was rookie point guard Trey Burke, lost indefinitely due to a broken finger. Then, of course, there were the games: seven of the eight losses, the last coming Friday night at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers in front of a half-full crowd at the Honda Center.

"They're seven straight losses," Jazz coach Ty Corbin said when asked if the exhibition defeats meant much. "We've got to learn from it. We're not happy with it. But I thought we made some strides in the losses."

Just a few days away from the start of the season, Corbin remains optimistic his team will have a successful year — but success may not always come in the form of a win.

"Performance," he said. "Performances will be key for us. Consistency and performance. Finding out who we are and how we're going to respond to situations. In this league, man, you have to grow into positions. You can talk about it, talk about it. But until you go through it, experience it and see how guys respond, it's going to be new to them.

"It's going to be different. There are going to be a lot of adjustments."

There are indeed plenty of adjustments to make following Friday night's 111-106 loss to the Lakers.

The Jazz led 53-51 at halftime, thanks to a 16 points from swingman Gordon Hayward. Hayward posted up the bigger Shawne Williams for a bucket. Then Hayward found some space outside. Point guard John Lucas found his teammate trailing on a fast break for a triple from the right angle. The next possession, Hayward hit from the corner.

But the Jazz offense became stagnate as the second half began. Hayward didn't score again until 2:45 left in the third quarter.

As the Jazz sputtered, the Lakers' Steve Blake took advantage.

The Jazz were outscored 37-20 in the third quarter, as the Lakers' guard scoring 13 of his 19 points — going 5 for 5 from the floor and 3 for 3 from beyond the arc — in the period.

While exhibition wins have been in short supply for an inexperienced Jazz team, Corbin says he's been pleased by his players' effort and dedication.

"If we didn't put our best foot forward the night before, they still come back and work the next day," he said. "[We've seen] them come together as a group, grow as individuals and try to get better and be good as fast as we can. … With young guys, it takes a little while."

The Jazz open the regular season Wednesday night in Salt Lake City against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"We can press reset and get back to work tomorrow," forward Derrick Favors, who scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in the loss. "Find out what we did wrong and what we did right and get back to work."

"There are going to be a lot of lessons we learn, good and bad," Corbin said. "We want to make sure wee cut the curve as much as we can and make sure we don't keep relearning the same lessons."

afalk@sltrib.com —

Storylines

O The Jazz are outscored 37-20 in the third quarter.

• Lakers guard Steve Blake scores 13 of his 19 points in the period.

• Utah closes the preseason with a seventh straight loss. Lakers 111, Jazz 106

FG FT Reb

Utah Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Jefferson 21:32 2-8 2-2 0-5 3 1 7

Favors 23:24 3-5 2-2 2-4 2 1 8

Kanter 23:26 4-11 3-3 2-7 3 1 11

Lucas III 26:37 3-6 0-0 0-1 3 2 8

Hayward 29:56 6-13 3-4 0-7 5 1 18

Gobert 24:34 8-10 0-1 6-9 0 4 16

Burks 25:04 7-12 3-4 2-4 2 3 18

McGuire 5:01 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Machado 4:33 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0

MHarris 1:38 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0 0

Hudson 16:50 2-8 0-0 1-3 6 3 5

Cook 15:02 2-8 0-0 2-4 1 2 4

Holiday 13:55 4-7 1-2 0-0 0 2 10

Clark 8:28 0-0 1-2 0-1 1 0 1

Totals 240:00 41-91 15-20 16-48 26 21 106

Percentages: FG .451, FT .750. 3-Point Goals: 9-21, .429 (Hayward 3-3, Lucas III 2-4, Burks 1-2, Holiday 1-3, Hudson 1-3, Jefferson 1-3, Cook 0-1, Kanter 0-1, Machado 0-1). Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: 15 (23 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Gobert 3, Jefferson). Turnovers: 15 (Gobert 5, Hayward 4, Cook 2, Machado 2, Burks, Lucas III). Steals: 6 (Burks, Gobert, Hayward, Holiday, Hudson, Kanter). Technical Fouls: None.

FG FT Reb

L.A.L. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Young 28:37 6-10 2-2 0-2 1 2 16

SWilliams 25:45 4-11 1-1 1-5 2 1 11

Gasol 28:37 5-13 6-6 3-8 7 0 16

Nash 28:37 2-5 2-2 0-0 4 2 7

Blake 28:37 7-7 0-0 0-7 4 4 19

Johnson 22:15 3-8 0-1 2-9 2 1 6

Meeks 19:23 1-5 0-0 0-1 1 2 2

Hill 19:23 5-8 0-0 2-6 1 5 10

Henry 19:23 3-5 6-8 0-2 0 5 13

Farmar 19:23 4-8 1-1 0-0 6 0 11

Totals 240:00 40-80 18-21 8-40 28 22 111

Percentages: FG .500, FT .857. 3-Point Goals: 13-29, .448 (Blake 5-5, Farmar 2-3, Young 2-5, S.Williams 2-9, Henry 1-1, Nash 1-2, Johnson 0-2, Meeks 0-2). Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 18 (20 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Gasol 3, Hill, S.Williams). Turnovers: 18 (Gasol 3, Hill 3, Young 3, Farmar 2, Nash 2, Blake, Henry, Johnson, Meeks, S.Williams). Steals: 7 (Meeks 3, Farmar 2, Henry 2). Technical Fouls: None.

Utah 23 30 20 33 — 106

L.A. Lakers 23 28 37 23 — 111

Attendance • 14,808.

Time • 2:01.