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Clippers vs Jazz Recap: Turning off the Music
The Clippers blew out the Jazz 131-102 in one of the easiest victories of the entire season.
Summary
The Clippers looked locked in on both ends to start this one, and the young Jazz, starting three rookies, appeared totally bewildered. The Clippers were up 13-2 within three minutes, 24-4 a couple minutes later, and 30-10 by the 4:04 mark when Russ and Norm checked in for Harden and PJ. The bench continued the onslaught, albeit at a slightly reduced pace, and the Clippers led 41-16 after one.
The Jazz scored six straight to start the second, but Russ and Harden answered with a flurry of points, and the lead quickly went right back up, getting into the 30s by the midpoint of the quarter. Zu and Mann came back for Theis and Russ, but Harden, Amir, and Norm played the whole quarter and PG never checked back in. At half, the Clippers led 75-42 and the game was effectively over.
Or was it? The Clippers scored with ease for much of the first half of the third quarter, but the Jazz did as well, with the Clippers’ defense notably loosening. The Jazz started to make headway in the second half of the period as the Clippers kept slipping, and got the lead down to 20 at one point late in the period. Fortunately, a quick 5-0 spurt got the Clippers back up 25 heading to the 4th.
Because of how awful the Clippers’ garbage time units have been this year, Ty Lue kept his regular second unit in the game. After a few minutes and the lead remaining in the mid-20s, Ty pulled Harden, bringing Terance back in. Finally, at the 7:09 mark, with the Clippers up 116-89, Ty at last took out the rest of the regular rotation (outside of Amir Coffey, and kind of Mason Plumlee) for the deep bench. Garbage time ensued, and for once the third unit wasn’t horrible!
Notes
Now That’s a Win: Yes, the Jazz are tanking and young
and terrible. Still, the Clippers came out with fire on both ends, played ball
the right way for an entire half, and outside of a few silly turnovers, did not
slack or let up. Regardless of opponent, they played very well and were able to
end the game in the first half – not an easy feat in the NBA. Every single guy
who played had a positive impact, just like in the Nuggets win, and back-to-back
games like that is a very nice sign with the postseason in sight. There was
some slacking in the third quarter, but not nearly enough to mar the victory.