Jazz steal Game 1 from the Clippers: 3 takeaways
By Connor Learn
The Utah Jazz were able to knock off the Los Angeles Clippers 97-95 on the road on Saturday night. It was a hard fought contest, but they emerged victorious at the end.
Joe Johnson made a game-winning shot as time expired to give Utah a victory in Game 1. The game started on a negative note for the Jazz, as star center Rudy Gobert went down early with a knee injury. Joe Johnson and Gordon Hayward stepped up and led them in scoring with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul led the Clippers in scoring with 26 and 25 points. It was a great first game of the series, and we learned a few things about how it’s going to play out.
Here are three takeaways from last night’s game.
Takeaways
Rudy Gobert’s injury changes this series. Gobert went down with a knee injury on Utah’s very first offensive possession after a collision with the Clippers’ Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and did not return. Gobert later underwent an MRI which determined that he had hyperextended his knee and suffered a bone bruise, according to The Vertical’s Shams Charania. It is the same injury that recently caused Kevin Durant to miss five weeks of action; it is likely that he is done for the series.
Utah battled through their star center’s absence. Derrick Favors filled the center role capably and the Jazz managed to win. His level of play still pales in comparison to that of Gobert, however. The Jazz missed Gobert’s presence around the rim, rebounding, and efficient offensive finishing. Utah allowed Blake Griffin to score 26 points without their defensive anchor and got out rebounded 40-34.
Coach Quin Snyder adjusted his defense well on the fly to account for Gobert’s absence. With Gobert out, Utah played conservatively and packed the paint, with the exception of manning up J.J. Redick closely. The scheme worked and Los Angeles’ fourth-ranked offense was only able to muster 95 points. But Clippers coach Doc Rivers will surely make adjustments to combat this before game two and Utah’s defense could slip without their Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
Blake Griffin and Chris Paul can’t score all of the points. Griffin and Paul combined to score 51 of Los Angeles’ 95 points. Only DeAndre Jordan finished in double-digits in scoring besides them. J.J. Redick only had seven points and Jamal Crawford had eight. In such a close loss, every shot counted and the final margin of victory was only one field goal. The lack of a third scoring option stepping up was a major factor in the Clippers struggling on offense for much of the night, and ultimately cost them in the end.
Other Clippers will have to make more of an impact offensively moving forward. Even without Gobert, Utah plays hard on defense and makes you earn your points. Los Angeles is somewhat handicapped offensively with Luc Richard Mbah a Moute on the floor, but his presence is a necessity defensively against Gordon Hayward, without Austin Rivers. Whether it be Jamal Crawford creating offense, Redick finding open looks, or Jordan stepping up against the reserve bigs, someone needs to help carry the offensive load in this series.
With or without Rudy Gobert, this is a competitive series. Gobert’s absence forced a number of Jazz players to step up. Derrick Favors played a near season-high for minutes, despite clearly favoring a hobbled knee, and played admirably. His 15 points and 6 rebounds helped weather the unanticipated storm. In addition to Favors stepping up, Gordon Hayward crashed the boards hard and grabbed 10 rebounds. Joe Johnson was pressed into more minutes and scored 21 points. Surely Gobert is an important player, but he doesn’t make or break the Jazz’s chances.
Next: NBA Playoffs 2017: 5 keys to Clippers vs. Jazz matchup
The Jazz play slow paced, smart, unyielding basketball and make few mistakes. Simply put, they don’t defeat themselves. The Clippers must make plays to beat them, and thankfully for them they have two All-Star playmakers. It is likely that they will in other games in this series, and it is also likely that the resilient Jazz grind out at least one more victory. This will be a long back-and-forth series that could take seven games to decide the victor.