Even in loss, the Jazz are encouraged by their play against the Thunder


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SALT LAKE CITY — Kyle Korver has been around long enough to know when things — good and bad — are coming.

Just last season, Korver’s Cleveland Cavaliers went on a 16-game winning streak, but Korver couldn’t shake the feeling that it was a little fake. The Cavs kept winning almost despite their play, not necessarily because of it (having a certain LeBron James helps cover up some poor things).

“We felt like we were picking up bad habits and we were getting wins, but we were getting sloppy,” Korver said. “And you could just feel that a tough stretch was probably coming.”

He feels the opposite right now.

The Utah Jazz may not be on a winning streak right now, but after a week filled with wins over the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers, and a close loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, they feel like one is on the horizon.

“It’s all gonna come, we all really believe that,” Korver said. “As a group, I think you’d hear that from everybody. We believe that a bunch of wins is coming. And what we are doing right now, is kind of like groundwork.”

The Jazz locker room wasn’t too somber of a place following Utah’s 107-106 loss to Oklahoma City. In fact, you could say it was filled with a quiet confidence.

“I feel like we are a better team tonight, then when we were when I came here,” Korver said. “We are a better team, we have better habits.”

And the numbers back that up. The Jazz have once again morphed into one of the best defensive teams in the league and are the No. 1 defensive unit since Dec. 1, according to cleaningtheglass.com. That defense held the Thunder to just 14 fourth-quarter points, allowing Utah to get back into the game, even when the shots weren’t always falling.

“I think that maybe the takeaway on the positive side of the ledger is how we defended in the fourth quarter,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.

The Jazz had a lot going against them late in Saturday’s game. They were on the second night of a back-to-back, they were on the wrong end of some calls and they couldn’t seem to make an open shot. Yet, they still managed to claw back from a double-digit deficit to have two free throws at the end to tie the game. Donovan Mitchell couldn’t convert on the opportunity. But he also didn’t seem to beat up about the loss.

“We played great defense, but missed open looks,” Mitchell said. “We’ll be fine.”

It really was that simple. In the fourth quarter, the Jazz missed five consecutive open 3-pointers. Any of those shots go down and the game changes.

So what has sparked the turnaround on the defensive side of the ball?

Derrick Favors credited the team playing better as individuals, and also collectively as a unit.

“Just playing harder and smarter,” Favors said. “Just taking advantage of what we can. On the defensive end, just playing hard, making sure we are guarding guys and stand between them and the basket.”

And so while the loss stings — especially in the manner it happened — the Jazz are looking forward with some added confidence.

“A loss is a loss,” Ricky Rubio said. “Of course it hurts, but we can learn from that. I think we have to be encouraged the way that we are playing. We can’t really judge our game just because we won or lost. Sometimes you win and you play bad and sometimes you lose and you play good. We have to be smart, we have to know where we are at and keep doing what we are doing because we are playing better.”

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