Clippers Vs. Jazz Series Preview

By Connor Aylward
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Updated: April 13, 2017

Welcome back to the playoffs Los Angeles Clippers fans. Time for another tough first round series, this time against the 5th seeded Utah Jazz.

Utah finished the regular season with the same 51-31 record as the Clippers but lost out on home court as the Clippers held the tiebreaker, winning the season series 3 to 1. Here were the results from that season series:

Game 1: Oct. 30th – Clippers 88 vs Jazz 75

Game 2: Feb. 13th – Clippers 88 @ Jazz 72

Game 3: Mar. 13th – Clippers 108 @ Jazz 114

Game 4: Mar. 25th – Clippers 108 vs Jazz 95

One thing that stands out when looking back on the season series between the two teams is just how important the benches were for the winning team. In that opening win on October 30th, Austin Rivers had a game-high 19 points off the bench. In that second matchup Chris Paul wasn’t able to play due to injury but Rivers again stepped up getting 15 points filling in while Jamal Crawford had 11, leading all bench scorers. That Clippers loss on March 13th might be the most telling, Joe Ingles had 18 points and went 3 of 4 from beyond the arc which allowed him to outscore all Clipper players other than Paul. That final win for Los Angeles saw Crawford light up the scoreboard once more, leading all scorers with a game-high 28 points off the bench.

A series that depends heavily on bench play may not have Clippers fans jumping for joy however. While Crawford, Speights and Rivers have been solid for the team this season, the bench as a whole has been wildly inconsistent. Not to mention the absence of Rivers who the team expects back before the end of the series but nothing seems concrete.

Spoke to Clippers’ Austin Rivers before the game, he says he won’t be ready for Game 1 vs. Jazz. Says he’s targeting Game 3 or 4 to return.

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 13, 2017

With Rivers out veterans like Raymond Felton and maybe even Paul Pierce will need to step it up for Los Angeles to maintain their edge in depth.

There are some key matchups that give Los Angeles an edge as well. Blake Griffin has punished his Jazz counterpart in their meetings this season whether it was Boris Diaw or Derrick Favors. Favors, returning from injury likely won’t be fully healthy and with Griffin seemingly hitting his stride after returning from an injury of his own things could get ugly for the Jazz in the post.

Another battle in the post is possibly the most intriguing matchup of the series. The Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan and the Jazz’ Rudy Gobert play an eerily similar brand of basketball. The two are throwbacks to the way the game used to be with shot blocking and rebounding taking center stage. Little separated the performances of the two in their face-offs this season as whenever one would get the better of the other the opposite would happen in the next contest.

Before we delve into my prediction for the series let’s take a look at the schedule these teams will face in this playoff series.

Round 1 schedule is set, & it all begins Saturday at @STAPLESCenter.

in your seats » https://t.co/KrXCvRrx8t pic.twitter.com/YY708CFO4t

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) April 13, 2017

It will be critical for Los Angeles to control those first two games at Staples Center if they want to win the series. With that being said I believe the Clippers playoff experience and home court advantage pay off and they win it in 6.

Thanks for reading along Clipper Nation. Here’s to advancing on.

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