NBA Playoffs 2017: Clippers vs. Jazz Game 7 live stream: Watch online
By Connor Learn
The Clippers earned a 98-93 victory on the road to extend this series to seven games. Now, at home for Game 7, they will seek to advance to the second round.
Utah was the odds-on-favorite team in Game 6. They had seized momentum of the series by winning Games 4 and 5 late. It had coincided with Rudy Gobert’s return to the series and Blake Griffin’s departure due to injury, so many assumed that they would take this close-out game at home. Joe Johnson emerged as one of the stories of the playoffs, and the Jazz played well with him and Hayward at forward against Los Angeles’s main units.
Los Angeles seemed to lack firepower following Blake Griffin’s injury in Game 3. Jamal Crawford and J.J. Redick stepped up in their losses with 27 point games, but ultimately they struggled to score against the slow-paced Jazz. But then Austin Rivers returned to the series in Game 5 and helped unlock small lineups to counter Utah’s small looks. This helped even the series and was a major factor in Game 6, as Rivers logged 34 minutes and hit two timely late 3s.
This balance figures to play into Game 7. Most games of this series have come down to the last minute, and this one is likely to as well. Utah has been the more balanced team throughout the series, and have been getting better as Rudy Gobert’s health improves. Gordon Hayward has averaged 27.4 points in games he has completed during the series and has played extremely well for them. Meanwhile, Chris Paul has been excellent for the Clippers. He has averaged 27.3 points, 10 assists, and 5.2 rebounds this series. This game could come down to the final possession.
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, Austin Rivers, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and DeAndre Jordan.
Jazz: George Hill, Joe Ingles, Gordon Hayward, Boris Diaw and Rudy Gobert