Clippers pull even with the Jazz: 3 takeaways from Game 2

The Los Angeles Clippers evened their first round series with the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. They led from the beginning in their 99-91 victory.

The Clippers’ big three led the way as they evened the series with Utah. Chris Paul scored 21 and added 10 assists, Blake Griffin scored 24 points and DeAndre Jordan contributed a strong game with 18 points and 15 boards. Los Angeles shot 52.4 percent from the field and controlled the game from the beginning to end.

Utah struggled to keep pace with Los Angeles. They were never quite able to overcome a 13-point first quarter deficit and simply kept this game close. Gordon Hayward scored 20 points and four of his teammates also scored double-digits in their loss. They simply lacked the firepower to close the deficit they found themselves in.

Takeaways

The Jazz miss Rudy Gobert. The loss of star center Gobert clearly hurt the Jazz in this game. Utah was handily defeated in points in the paint as Los Angeles dominated close to the basket. Additionally, they lost the rebounding battle 39 -33 after having a clear advantage in Game 1. Coach Quin Snyder couldn’t have his team field the same defensive effort without their defensive anchor.

Gobert’s knee injury is progressing and there are signs of hope that he could play in the series again. But that won’t be until after a couple more games take place and the Jazz will again have to find a way to make up for his absence. Replacement Derrick Favors again looked hobbled and backup Jeff Withey didn’t make a notable difference. They survived Game 1 without him, but it couldn’t do the same in Game 2

Chris Paul is a maestro. Los Angeles opened up a 29-18 edge after one quarter and maintained a lead the rest of the way. Chris Paul was important in establishing and maintaining this lead. His 21 points on 9-15 shooting and 10 assists to 5 turnovers made for a textbook Paul Game. Additionally, the Clippers point guard controlled the pace of the game, after they played down to Utah’s pace in Game 1.

Paul was the best player on the court on Tuesday night. He got DeAndre Jordan involved early and engineered the offense when he was on the floor. The Clippers were able to weather every run that Utah made and the heady play of their point guard is a big reason why. They could ill afford to drop two games at home in this series and needed this victory. Paul helped his team play with an amount of sharpness and urgency that his teammates mirrored this in their decisive win.

There is no quit in Utah. The Clippers led the game from start to finish and opened up a 13 point lead in the first quarter. It would have been easy for them to make another run that put this game out of hand at some point. But the Jazz refused to fall out of this game. They chipped away at the Clippers’ lead all game, getting it down to six points in the fourth quarter. Utah was close enough at the end to foul with 13 seconds left.

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The Jazz used the most of the shot clock in their halfcourt offense and worked the ball around for the best looks possible. They played their usual brand of unyielding basketball. They lack the firepower that Los Angeles possesses, however, and they just couldn’t pull this game out. The Jazz needed a second scorer to step up and didn’t get such a performance. This was very much a game where it looked like the Clippers were the more talented team and won as a result. But in a game that could have been out of hand, the Jazz stayed focus and gritted out a tough performance.