Utah Jazz take control of the Clippers: 5 takeaways

Last night, the Jazz beat the Clippers, 114-108, in one of the first games to have important playoff implications as the NBA season enters its final month. Currently sitting at fourth and fifth respectively in the Western Conference standings, the Jazz and Clippers met in Salt Lake City for a decisive matchup that would help determine homecourt advantage in the teams’ expected first-round playoff battle. Utah’s victory gave them a two-game lead over Los Angeles in the loss column with 15 games left to play.

The two teams will meet for the final time in the regular season on March 25, but last night’s close contest gave us real insight into how the teams stack up against one another and, more broadly, against other NBA contenders as the playoffs near. Five things stood out most:

Rudy Gobert will be one of the most important big men in the playoffs

In today’s NBA, especially in the Western Conference, big men have an inconsistent impact on games from night to night. They might be swept out of the rotation one night against a team that likes to play small, and then brought out for 40 minutes the next night to match the physicality of a bigger opponent.

Last night, Utah’s Rudy Gobert, a leading Defensive Player of the Year candidate and breakout star, showed decisively that he belongs on the court every night. If that wasn’t proven already during his All-Star-caliber performance this season, his manhandling of the Clippers’ bigs last night definitely proved the point. Another double-double isn’t much to sneeze at for the consistent big man, but legitimately controlling the paint over long stretches (especially in the second half) was really impressive.

Chris Paul dominated the first half of this game, and it appeared Los Angeles might run away in the second half. Then the Jazz went on a run midway through the third quarter, and Gobert’s presence was truly felt. He volleyball-spiked a Paul floater out of the paint, bodied up on Jordan to keep possessions alive, and kept the offense moving even after a few bench players joined him on the court.

If Gobert can continue to play this way into the playoffs and win the battle against big men as good as Jordan in games that matter, Utah will have something to say come April and May.

Utah figures its rotation out

This one isn’t hard to understand: Utah’s best players are finally coalescing into a healthy, well-rounded rotation. Inconsistencies and injuries forced coach Quin Snyder to juggle things around a bit too much early in the year, but a deep bench has rounded into shape with Joe Johnson, Boris Diaw, Joe Ingles and Dante Exum playing extremely well.

This group appears feisty offensively. Every player can shoot respectably (depending on how you feel about Exum), and Ingles scored 18 points in this game. But their defense showed up as well against the Clipper; Johnson was impressive defending Blake Griffin in the post, while Exum made several plays of his own.

Los Angeles might only have six rotation players

We go through this every year with the Clippers. Outside of their starters and Austin Rivers, who do you trust in a playoff game? Jamal Crawford tried and failed to take over this game in the third quarter, and no one else on the bench could make a positive impact on the game.

Rivers is the only two-way impactor outside the starting lineup, and he’s not big enough to play on the wing for big minutes every night. Also, Los Angeles can’t play six players and expect to make a big run. Mo Speights is going to be on the court to score points, and Crawford has obviously earned his minutes as well. But don’t be surprised if one of the best Clippers bench mobs in a while still fails to make an impact down the stretch in March and into the postseason.

Chris Paul remains the point god

If there was anything major to take away from the Clippers’ solid performance in the first half, it was Paul looking like the best player on the court. He’s missed 21 games this season due to injury, and after getting hurt in last year’s playoffs, it was reasonable to start to worry. The beginning of this season was magical for him, but there’s only so many injuries a 31-year-old can take before he starts to fade.

Then he goes out and dazzles, and you wonder if these prolonged resting periods might actually benefit him during the regular season. Paul was his best self last night, posting a 33-7-6 line and jacking shots from everywhere on the court. When he starts rising from deep even when the defender goes over screens, you can tell he’s feeling good. And when Paul is feeling good, there’s not a system or player in the league who can do much about that.

Paul is capable of winning games all by himself if the rest of the team plays like up to their normal standard. Last night’s greatest Paul-related takeaway might have actually been that even his best games can evaporate into defeat when Griffin and others play poorly against the NBA’s best.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute gets taken advantage of

I don’t feel great about declaring this long-term, because I’ve been really impressed by Mbah a Moute this season, but he’s much more impactful as an individual defender than trying to keep up with the endless ferris wheel motion of an offense like the one the Jazz run. Their offense really wears teams down when it’s working, and Mbah a Moute was just its latest victim.

Gordon Hayward and George Hill both scooted around him with relative ease when the ball pinged their way, especially when they ended up on an island after the Clippers tried switching defensively:

Let’s not forget that the Clippers still have a 2-1 lead in the season series, and with a win on March 25 will lock up the head-to-head edge. If they eventually tie the Jazz in the loss column, they’ll take the fourth seed back. Last night didn’t change a whole lot except to pull the Jazz further ahead in the standings, and bring them closer to hosting four of seven games in a potential first-round series between the two teams.

Next: Goran Dragic has found his voice

In that case, what we saw last night will become very intriguing. If not, two teams playing each other at (mostly) full health in ultra important games ends up bringing out the best in each. Yesterday, two good teams playing well ended up with the Jazz peeling off an important win at home.