The Utah Jazz were on the verge of heading into the All-Star break with a seven-game winning streak, as Quin Snyder’s team was up against the current ninth-seed Los Angeles Lakers. Once Anthony Davis went out injured, it felt like a Jazz win was more likely, especially after going up by double digits.
Then LeBron James went full LeBron (maybe inspired by having Super Bowl winner Aaron Donald courtside).
But let’s be real: While LBJ was going King James mode, the Jazz were busy blowing a lead too. Utah lost and it was the second time in just the last few weeks that the Jazz have blown a lead to the Lakers.
The loss frustrated many Jazz fans, and led to our beat reporters wondering is this another example of the Jazz just not being mentally tough enough in games — something that’s happened for years now (see blown 3-1 lead on Denver, blown 2-0 lead on the Clippers, and even the blown 25-point lead to LAC in Game 6 of that series).
On the latest episode of The Tribune’s “How ‘Bout This Jazz” podcast, host/moderator Xoel Cardenas and Tribune Jazz beat reporters Andy Larsen and Eric Walden discuss the Jazz’s collapse against the Lakers and why the team continues to show mental weakness too many times these last few years.
Plus, Andy and Eric talk about their All-Star break plans since they’ll have a week off to get a much-deserved R&R.
Click below to listen now! You can also find the podcast on every major podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Find the HBTJ podcast at sltrib.com/podcasts/bout_jazz/
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