"It's Not Effort, It's Mental Focus" | Utah's Winning Streak Ends In Los Angeles

It’s time to rest and reset.

Entering Wednesday night with a six-game winning streak, Utah struggled in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter and fell 106-101 to the Lakers. 

“When the game did get close, I thought that we could’ve done more together in execution situations,” head coach Quin Snyder said. “It’s not effort, it’s mental focus. … It’s treating every possession as important. Our offense hurt our defense. … We didn’t execute and it gave them life.”

In the final game before the all-star break, Utah will now have a chance to get fully healthy and make a late-season push for the postseason. Already firmly in the playoff picture, the Jazz will focus on staying a top-four seed and making a run at a higher seed. 

But to do so, they’ll have to figure out ways to make sure a repeat of Wednesday night doesn’t happen.

Utah was firmly in control and the significantly better team for the first 42 minutes of the game, leading 92-80 with just over six minutes to play. But that all changed as the Jazz lost mental focus on the task at hand and LeBron James caught fire — leading to the late-game collapse.

“They call him (James) the greatest player of all time. … Some might dispute that, but I’m calling him that,” Snyder said. “When the game did get close, I thought that we could’ve done more together in execution situations. It can’t be that easy to give up a lead. … We got to make teams work and grind.”

this pass *shivers* pic.twitter.com/jsaYzY4K2z

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 17, 2022

Despite the loss, Donovan Mitchell was sensational. 

He finished with a game-high 37 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the floor and 5-for-11 from beyond the arc. He added five assists, four steals, and three rebounds.

He shined most in the opening half, using an array of moves to create offense at will. From getting to the rim to midrange jumpers and shots from deep, Mitchell was fully in his bag of tricks, and the Lakers had no answer for him.

But where he really shined brightest was in the third quarter. 

As Los Angeles made a much more concerted effort to prevent him from getting such easy looks, Mitchell affected the game in other ways. Instead of forcing the offense, he calmly found the open man or made the correct read as Utah’s offense remained highly efficient. 

“This is just a reminder that we need to keep going,” Mitchell said. “In a way it’s a good reminder but I’m tired of figuring things out like this through losses.”

| Donovan 7th game this season of 35 points or more #TakeNote | @ZionsBank pic.twitter.com/zPKloBkbTT

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 17, 2022

Needing the win much more than the Jazz, Los Angeles came out on fire as Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook combined for an early 11-0 lead. But Mitchell was the spark Utah needed, scoring five straight points en route to 15 in the quarter as the Jazz battled back to tie it at 27 after the first.

Mitchell stayed hot in the second quarter, scoring seven of Utah’s final 11 points as the Jazz continued to grind and entered the half up 53-46.

Despite struggling at points in the third quarter and playing like they were “up by 40,” Utah extended its lead to 13 late in the quarter. But James ended the third with back-to-back layups as the Jazz led 79-71 entering the final 12 minutes.

Utah didn’t seem fazed entering the fourth as a pair of Hassan Whiteside free throws made it a 12-point game before the Jazz lost control. The Lakers went on a 16-2 run to take a two-point lead before a pair of Mike Conley free throws tied it up with just under two to play.

After Los Angeles took a four-point lead, the Jazz staged one last comeback when Bojan Bogdanovic knocked down a three-pointer to make it a one-point game with 37.6 to play. Unfortunately, a defensive miscommunication led to an Austin Reaves three-pointer with 17.4 to play, putting the game out of reach.

“It didn’t hurt, we didn’t feel it,” Mitchell said about giving up the lead. “There is no way we should’ve lost this game, we let this game slip in many different circumstances. As a group, we got to find a way to win this game, plain and simple. … We got to find a way to win this game and we just didn’t.”

Bogdanovic finished with 15 points while Jordan Clarkson added 13 off the bench. O’Neale scored 10 points in the third quarter and added seven rebounds and three steals.

James finished with 33 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, dropping 15 points in the fourth.

it #TakeNote | @jordanclarksons pic.twitter.com/g1X77dsZ7r

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 17, 2022

Utah now heads into the all-star break needing some rest to get healthy. They return to action on Friday, Feb. 25 with a massive showdown at home against Luka Doncic and Dallas. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. MST.

“A night like tonight is discouraging, but it’s not something we are going to overreact too. … We got to lock back in and make this push in the second half,” Mitchell said.