INGLEWOOD — Any comparisons to the last time these teams played were put to rest long before Thursday night’s game tipped off. Back in October, the Utah Jazz handled the Clippers with ease in a 21-point season-opening victory.
That was then. Three months after that one-sided loss, the Clippers appear to have turned a corner following their rough start while a rash of injuries threatens to derail the Jazz’s season.
Still, the Clippers proceeded with caution in their second meeting and for good reason.
“It’s the league. Anybody can be beat,” Coach Tyronn Lue said before the game.
The Clippers nearly found that out the hard way, needing a big fourth quarter from red-hot star Kawhi Leonard to pull away from the Jazz for a 118-101 victory, their sixth straight.
Leonard was the only Clippers starter on the floor for much of the fourth quarter. He finished with 45 points and singlehandedly matched Utah’s points in the period (20), with blood on his nose from what appeared to be a scratch.
After leading by as many as 21 in the first half, the Clippers (12-21) struggled to maintain their defensive poise after the intermission. The Jazz pounced and took their first lead at 60-58 on free throws by Brice Sensabaugh at the 9:21 mark of the third quarter.
That was the opening Utah needed.
The score remained close for much of the second half, with neither team gaining more than a four-point lead until the Clippers pulled away in the final eight minutes.
Leonard buried a 3-pointer to put the Clippers ahead 96-92 with 7:51 remaining. After the Jazz scored, Leonard hit another 3 for a 99-94 lead, starting a run of baskets that secured the lead and extended the Clippers’ winning streak.
Leonard finished 16-of-29 shooting for his 11th career 40-point game and his third in the past five games. He also had seven rebounds and three assists.
James Harden, who sat out the fourth quarter, had 20 points, three rebounds and seven assists. Nicolas Batum added 14 points (shooting 4 for 6 from 3-point range) and Derrick Jones Jr. had 10 points in his second game back after missing a month.
The Clippers uncharacteristically struggled to shoot from the perimeter in the first three quarters before Leonard got into a rhythm in the fourth. Efficiency from long range had been a staple of their five-game winning streak, but they shot 15 for 50 from behind the arc.
“They played faster than us that opening night. They played harder than we did. They executed better than we did. … all those things played a factor,” Lue said before the game. “And we learned from it.”
What the Clippers learned was the Jazz can still be a tough opponent, even with half of their roster missing.
The Jazz had five rotation players out, including center Lauri Markkanen, who is dealing with a left knee contusion.
Markkanen, who is enjoying arguably the best season of his NBA career, was downgraded from questionable to out before the game. Two days earlier, he had 22 points, nine rebounds and two assists in a loss to the Boston Celtics.
The Jazz also were without rookie Ace Bailey (hip), Keyonte George (illness), Jusuf Nurkic (toe), Kevin Love (rest), and Walker Kessler, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in November.
And without their stars, the Jazz provided little resistance early, allowing the Clippers to build a 16-0 lead before Utah got its bearings. The Jazz missed their first six shots and had one rebound in the first six minutes.
Utah eventually got on the scoreboard at the 7:05 mark of the first quarter and trailed 28-7 less than 10 minutes into the game. By the end of the first quarter, Utah coach Will Hardy had used all of his available players, and the Clippers were cruising to a 31-17 first-quarter lead.
Hardy, however, abandoned his starting lineup in the second period and the bench players trimmed a 14-point margin to 35-28 with 8:40 left in the half. Jazz forward Cody Williams scored on a layup to get within 35-30 before Leonard cut to the basket for a layup then followed it with his second 3-pointer and the Clippers were back up by 10.
The Jazz didn’t let up and scored eight straight points to pull within 42-38. The Clippers couldn’t match Utah’s energy in the second quarter and found themselves struggling to hold on to the lead. They managed to play just well enough to take a 53-50 lead into halftime.
Much of the Clippers’ troubles in the first half stemmed from their inability to find the basket from long range, going 5 for 25 before the break. The showing was so dismal that center Brook Lopez, who missed all eight of his long-range shots, came out at halftime and practiced his shooting.
More to come on this story.