The Utah Jazz were within arm's reach of ending their five-game losing streak on Wednesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.

After Keyonte George nearly ended the game with a fourth quarter buzzer-beater, it was determined that the Jazz guard didn't get the ball off his hands in time. That led to five extra minutes in overtime, and quickly opened up with a 12-0 run from New Orleans that Utah couldn't escape in time.

That end result now puts the Jazz at a dreary 1-7 on the season and in the midst of a now-six-game losing streak. It doesn't help knowing Utah is also stuck at the bottom of the Western Conference, and have a lot of work to do to get this operation back on track.

But as it relates to this game against the Pelicans in particular, what was the reason to attribute those late struggles in overtime to?

Will Hardy Breaks Down Jazz's Overtime Struggles

After the game, Hardy addressed the Jazz's overtime woes and highlighted one big reason as to why Utah came up short: and it wasn't because of their lack of shot-making.

Instead, it was within the Jazz's rebounding that Hardy saw the biggest issue.

"Yeah, I mean, the biggest thing was rebounding," Hardy said on the Jazz's overtime loss. "I thought our initial defense was good. They had a couple of second-chance baskets. Fears had one to kind of start it off, and we need the secondary plays to get those boards."

"It's hard. Guys like Queen and Zion put so much pressure on the rim. The guys at the rim are sort of locked up physically to contest those balls, and we need secondary rebounders.

The Jazz were outrebounded 4-2 in those extra five minutes of the game, and 2-0 on the offensive glass. And those boards from New Orleans led to some dominant production from inside the arc and drawing contact.

Utah had zero free throws to the Pelicans' seven. On the other hand, New Orleans had zero threes in those extra five minutes, but their efficiency at the rim made that lack of range a non-factor.

Hardy didn't see many mishaps on the Jazz's side offensively, outside of some ball-handling miscues––which, for a young roster like Utah, has been a recurring theme for the past couple of seasons.

"Offensively, I think there were some moments of just sort of mishandling the ball. That's nobody's fault. That's just part of the sport, and we missed the moment of decision because of it," Hardy said.

"I also think we got a couple of looks that we can make. But I think in general, the biggest takeaway from that stretch is rebounding."

The Jazz are now 0-2 in their pair overtime appearances this season, and have some work to do up ahead in order to get this roster's late-game execution up to par.

Therefore, it's back to the drawing board for Will Hardy and Co., who have their first NBA Cup game on tap come Friday against the Dallas Mavericks, which could mark a perfect time for Utah to get back on track with a long-awaited victory.