Clippers take another from Jazz: 3 takeaways from Game 3

The Clippers defeated the Jazz 111-106 to gain a 2-1 series lead on Friday night. Chris Paul took over late in Salt Lake City to help make up for teammate Blake Griffin’s absence.

As expected from this series, it was 48 minutes of hard fought basketball. A record-setting first quarter from Gordon Hayward helped the Jazz establish a 34-21 lead through the first period. The Clippers lost Blake Griffin to a toe injury during the second quarter, but that didn’t deter them from chipping away at Utah’s lead. Chris Paul led a fourth quarter run for Los Angeles that allowed them to take and then maintain a late lead.

Chris Paul led the way for Los Angeles with 34 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds. DeAndre Jordan dominated the paint again, scoring 17 points and grabbing 13 boards. Largely due to Jordan’s efforts, the Clippers were able to establish a 41-27 rebounding advantage. George Hill scored 26 points and Joe Johnson added 15 in a losing effort for Utah. The Clippers take the series advantage intro game four, which will again take place in Salt Lake City.

Lessons about this series were again learned in Game 3, and here were the three biggest ones.

Takeaways

Gordon Hayward made his presence felt. Through two games, the best players in this series were Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. First time All-Star Gordon Hayward had played well through the first two games but didn’t deliver notable performances. Hayward had been pressed into more time at power forward in Rudy Gobert’s absence and had upped his rebounding, grabbing 16 rebounds in the first two games.

Hayward upped his efforts upon his return to Salt Lake City for Game 3. He scored a Jazz-record 21 points in the first quarter and finished with 40 points overall on the night. Additionally, Hayward shot 61.9 percent from the floor and grabbed another 8 rebounds. Young players truly establish stardom during the playoffs, and Hayward made an emphatic case to be considered a star on Friday night.

Clippers minus Blake Griffin. Blake Griffin left the game late in the first half with a bruised right toe and did not return. There has been no update to the severity of Griffin’s injury or how it may effect his availability moving forward yet. But even if he is capable of returning for Game 4, he won’t be at 100 percent. For a player who relies on his explosive athleticism as much as Griffin does, any toe injury will be a significant setback.

Los Angeles got by without Griffin in Game 3. Paul Pierce and Marreese Speights filed in capably in the power forward role, though they didn’t make too much of a difference. The Clippers got by with Chris Paul leading the charge in the second half to guide them to victory. Much like Utah’s effort in game one, the supporting players in Los Angeles did just enough to make up for their star’s absence to secure a win. If he is forced to miss time moving forward, however, they could be extremely detrimental to securing the series win.

Chris Paul continued to be the series’ best player. Chris Paul knows what this years’ playoffs means to this Clippers organization. They are at a breaking point, and he refuses to allow the Clippers to break. He helped the Clippers control a lead throughout game two and took over the game late tonight in securing their second victory. Paul led a 15-0 Clippers run in which he scored nine to secure a late lead.

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Paul followed through on the lead that he helped establish and iced two free throws to secure the Clippers victory. He seemed to be in control of this game even when the Clippers were losing, never worried even as they trailed. Paul stepped up his offensive output when his team needed to as well, as Los Angeles needed all 34 of his points on 54.5 percent shooting. He appears to be set on winning this series no matter what his team needs from him.