SALT LAKE CITY � Coming off a 26-point blowout loss Sunday in Phoenix, the Nets did a good job of overcoming their penchant for slow starts by building a 15-point halftime lead over the Jazz Tuesday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena. But this time, they had a problem finding a strong finishing kick, blowing an eight-point fourth-quarter lead on their way to a 119-114 loss.
The Nets withstood a 13-0 Jazz run to open the third period and pushed their lead back to eight, but the Jazz opened the fourth quarter with a 13-4 burst, including a trio of threes by Jeff Green to take a 97-96 lead with 9:11 left to play. The Jazz pushed their lead to five points, but cold-shooting Joe Harris warmed up with eight points in an 11-4 surge that gave the Nets a 109-107 lead on a Harris layup with 4:29 to go.
The teams traded the lead three more times down the stretch before Rudy Gobert put the Jazz ahead for good with a layup for a 116-114 lead with 56.8 seconds left. The Nets had a chance to regain the lead, but Kyrie Irving missed a three-pointer with 4.4 seconds left.
Irving led the Nets (4-6) with 27 points but made only 10 of 30 shots, Spencer Dinwiddie scored 21 but was benched down the stretch, and DeAndre Jordan provided 15 points and 17 rebounds. Donovan Mitchell topped the Jazz (8-3) with 30 points and Gobert had 18 points and 15 rebounds.
Nets coach Kenny Atkinson had not planned to make any lineup changes, but a sprained right thumb suffered by Caris LeVert ruled him out against the Jazz. LeVert underwent an MRI but was undergoing further examination, and the Nets offered no update on his condition.
Atkinson started Garrett Temple in place of LeVert. He was a positive influence at Phoenix, and is one of several new veterans who were signed as free agents over the summer who still are adjusting to a new defensive system.
"We have enough talent and veterans who understand you can find ways to stay in the game even though that communication and that chemistry hasn't been built completely yet," Temple said. "We can't use that as an excuse."
The Nets came in ranked third in the NBA in scoring at 119.8 points per game, but they were 29th in defense, allowing 121.7 points. They habitually trade baskets with opponents, but they couldn't afford to take that mentality against the Jazz, who went in as the No. 1 defense in the NBA, allowing 98.1 points per game.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Temple said when asked if the Nets are content to trade. "That's been something we've done this season, and we've got to figure out a way to not allow our offense to dictate our defense."
The Jazz was on the second game of a back-to-back, but the Nets came out with far more intensity on defense than they showed in Phoenix, taking a 35-29 lead. Temple had five points in a 13-4 surge that pushed the Nets' lead to 53-41 midway in the second quarter, and then Irving, who had 13 points in the period, scored seven in an 11-3 run to reach halftime with a 68-53 lead.
All that good work went for naught when the Nets began the second half in meltdown mode, missing their first five shots and committing four turnovers as the Jazz scored 13 straight points, including six by Mitchell to cut their deficit to 68-66. Finally, Irving hit a three at the 7:57 mark for the Nets' first points of the second half. Dinwiddie came on strong from there with 10 third-quarter points to give the Nets a 92-84 lead at the end of the period.
