A dark outing helps the Los Angeles Clippers turn things around. -Deseret News

Sometimes there are interesting wrinkles in games, no matter the outcome. There are times when, despite a loss, the Utah Jazz can be proud of the things they’ve accomplished and look back on little moments to build on.

That wasn’t the case on Monday night as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz 144-107.

The Jazz were already 20 points behind midway through the first quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers extended their lead to 32 points less than two minutes into the second quarter. The game was over before it even began.

“We got our asses kicked,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “The game was really decided in the first quarter, that’s what matters. But you know, the message to the team in a moment like this is that we are all judged often, but ultimately we are judged most by how we act when things don’t go our way.”

As Clippers beat reporter Law Murray pointed out on social media, the Clippers, fresh off a three-game losing streak, used the Jazz to get back into a good rhythm, just like they did last month .

The Jazz defense was bad, the offense was bad and the turnovers were egregious.

Even in the moments when Jazz did something right, something often followed that destroyed the positivity. They got a rare defensive stop and then immediately turned the ball over, leading to a transition throw for the Clippers. Keyonte George made a good move inside and got to the free throw line where he missed both shots.

After some great ball movement and spacing, Lauri Markkanen passed the ball out to absolutely no one. Jazz head coach Will Hardy disagreed with two different decisions that ultimately resulted in the Jazz having the ball, but then the Jazz still turned the ball over on both possessions.

Meanwhile, James Harden had an easy 41 points to help the Clippers take the lead. As a team, they surpassed the 100-point mark midway through the third quarter and the Jazz offered no resistance defensively that would make a big difference down the stretch.

The Jazz could have argued that they played pretty evenly against the Clippers in the third quarter, scoring 33 points while the Clippers scored 34, but then the Clippers could have argued that they were passing the ball with a lead of almost 40 points were able to take our foot off the gas a little. A team that wins by so many points doesn’t really have to do anything other than outplay its opponent evenly.

Then the Jazz were still superior in the fourth quarter despite the starters being retired. That’s not great, nor are the Jazz’s 23 total turnovers, which led to 34 points for the Clippers.

“Turnovers, at the beginning of the game we said that would be the focus,” Hardy said. “And just a lot of sloppy play with the ball.”

If a team is designed to be inexperienced and lack coherent winning traits, games like this will happen. Not every game offers something to build on. Sometimes it’s a game that should serve as an example of what not to do. That’s what Monday’s game was all about for the Jazz.