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SALT LAKE CITY — Dwayne Wade was in an unusual position Tuesday night. He was working on the set of TNT's Inside the NBA and was asked to analyze his team after it had just blown a 25-point lead.
That position provided a glimpse inside the mind of a Jazz owner in the immediate aftermath of another stunning defeat.
"Well, for me, I thought we came out on the road with a great game plan, great intensity, really the way you want to come out on the road after struggling and ending a six-game road trip," Wade said. "But at the same time, you guys were in the back with me, I wasn't celebrating or happy."
He gave two reasons for that: He's seen the team blow big leads before, and he knew what Ty Lue and the Los Angeles Clippers were capable of in a game. In short, he hadn't forgotten about Game 6 last June.
"So I wrote this down: Some teams use their offense to play better D and be more active defensively — that was the Utah Jazz in the first half; and then some teams allowed a defense to bring the energy and bring them back in the game — that's the Clippers in the second half," Wade said. "And so we live by the 3, and tonight, in the second half, we didn't."
After shooting 10 of 19 from deep in the first half, the Jazz were just 2 of 12 in the second half, including an 0 for 3 fourth quarter.
"You watched last year in the playoffs, the Clippers and what Ty Lue does very well is kind of allow you to do your thing in the first half and then bring the adjustments out," Wade said. "So the adjustment against a team that shoots 3s is to switch everything, right? … Take you out of your rhythm, now you can't get those wide-open, rhythm 3s, and now they're forced, so you have to drive and do something you're not as comfortable with."
Utah has played against switching defenses more than anyone else in the league this season as teams have figured out how to take away — or at least limit — the 3-point shooting. Wade said the Jazz need to have a counter for when that happens.
"Give the Clippers all the credit in the world," he said. "I think as the Jazz, we have to understand that in those moments like that, when the team (has you figured out), you have to have another game to go to."
