Techniques for handling fingers with large delay spread through utility optimization are described. A first signal may be received, through a finger of a plurality of fingers in a receiver, at a time that is later than a reference time after a reference signal is received by a reference finger of the plurality of fingers. The reference signal may be included in an on-time group corresponding to a cell. The first signal may be included in a late group corresponding to a virtual cell. The first signal and the reference signal may be compared to one another. Based on the comparing, it may be determined whether to wait for additional signals in the late group or process the signals in the on-time group.