SALT IN WOUND

This is an opportunity the Clippers may regret not taking

SALT LAKE CITY — If this season ends at the same stage as the last, the Clippers will look back on Sunday night and ask themselves, “What if …?”

What if they had closed out Game 4 of their opening-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz?

What if they had made a basket or two over a crucial three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter?

What if they had prevented 35-year-old Joe Johnson from scoring 11 consecutive points on them?

The game was there for the Clippers to take. The series was there for them to win.

The Clippers should be returning to Staples Center with a three-games-to-one advantage over the Jazz. Instead, an injury- and illnessmarred series that looks like a seven-episode series of “Survivor” is now tied 2-2, with an inexplicable late-game implosion resulting in a 105-98 defeat at Vivint Smart Home Arena. “We let that one get away,” Chris Paul said. In other words,

Gene Sweeney Jr. Getty Images JOURNEYMAN FORWARD Joe Ingles, a 29-year-old Australian who like many Jazz players has little name recognition outside Salt Lake City, was an unsung hero in Game 4, hitting a clutch three-pointer to give Utah a 102-94 lead with less than a minute left. |

Rick Bowmer Associated Press JOE JOHNSON, shooting over Marreese Speights and Jamal Crawford, lifted the Jazz with 28 points, 13 in fourth quarter.