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Quin Snyder has a degree in philosophy, an M.B.A. and a juris doctorate.
But the Utah Jazz coach wasn't interested in getting academic Wednesday night as he digested a frustrating 94-93 loss to the Sacramento Kings, and another data point in a potentially troubling trend.
"I can't turn it into a master's thesis," the coach said.
Inside the team's locker room, however, Snyder's players were lamenting a lesson learned the hard way.
Back in front of their home crowd, the Jazz looked like they were well on their way to an easy win over the Kings (12-17). Midway through the second quarter, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins went up for a dunk only to be met at the rim by Utah's Rudy Robert. The block ignited a fast break and a 3-point bucket by Gordon Hayward on the other end, pushing the Jazz lead to 20.
But over the course of the next half hour of play, the Jazz slowly came undone. In recent weeks, they had seen big leads erode (see: Nuggets, Denver; Suns, Phoenix; Lakers, Los Angeles; Mavericks, Dallas), only to find ways to stave off defeat.
This time, the odds finally caught up to them.
"We should have never been in that situation," said Hayward, who scored a game-high 28 points. "I think we've done this, what, four or five times now this season? This one finally came back to bite us. You can't keep blowing 20-point leads and win every single time. This one stings for sure."
Sacramento guard Ty Lawson turned back the clock, tormenting the Jazz with his quickness to the tune of 19 points, 10 of them in a fourth quarter that saw the Jazz outscored 32-20.
"Defensively we just weren't there," said Utah's Joe Ingles, who started for the Jazz with shooting guard Rodney Hood sidelined with the flu. "It's just frustrating, especially when we know how we can play defensively."
Cousins, who scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds on the night, gave Sacramento its first lead since the first quarter on a pair of free throws with 1:08 to go.
Jazz center Rudy Gobert missed a free throw late that would have tied the game.
"I rushed it a little bit," said Gobert, who had 17 points and 14 rebounds, his ninth consecutive double-double. "But it's just a free throw. It's not why we lost the game. … We were up 20 points and we let them come back."
Hayward went 9-of-18 from the floor in the loss, including missing a 5-footer that would have tied the game with six seconds to play.
"It's a shot I hit all the time," he said, "and it just rolled across the rim."
The Jazz will now have a day to regroup from back-to-back defeats and their latest hard-learned lesson before taking on Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.
"You can't relax," Hayward said. "These are NBA players. Best players in the world. Twenty points is nothing. … It's frustrating. Hopefully we learned from this one."
Twitter: @aaronfalk —
Storylines
R The Jazz deflate defensively in the second half and blow a 20-point lead in a loss to Kings.
• Rudy Gobert scores 17 points and grabs 14 rebounds for his ninth-straight double-double, matching the longest such streak for a Jazzman since Carlos Boozer in the 2009-10 season.
• With guards Danté Exum and Rodney Hood both out, Shelvin Mack and Joe Ingles start and combine for 23 points.