Clippers Season Ends In Game 7 Loss To Jazz
- Updated: April 30, 2017
There was no energy. The Los Angeles Clippers came into a Game 7 win or go home game against a stout Utah Jazz team and had zero energy from the opening tip.
The season is just ending as I’m typing this so I’m not about to start suggesting what changes the Clippers need to make this offseason already. Here’s a question from a life-long Clippers fan though, how in the hell do you not show any energy in a game 7 at home?
That being said, have to credit the Utah Jazz for what they did in this series defensively but particularly in this final game. JJ Redick had the worst series of any of the team’s starters and that didn’t improve on Sunday. Redick finished with 3 points on 1-5 shooting. Utah didn’t allow Los Angeles to get any open shots. They shot just 25% from beyond the arc. Meanwhile the Clippers bread and butter pick and roll was open but DeAndre Jordan can only catch so many lobs. Jordan shined on the boards but he didn’t get much help. He closed out the game with 24 points and 17 rebounds.
Jordan was able to standout because Jazz Center Rudy Gobert struggled with foul trouble all afternoon. Gobert only played in 13 minutes due to this and the Clippers still struggled to score in the post. Getting Paul Pierce 22 minutes of action while Mo Speights and Luc Mbah a Moute played only 9 and 15 respectively may help explain the team’s struggles scoring inside. But the fact of the matter is, this game screamed for Blake Griffin to make something happen and obviously he wasn’t available.
Utah began to run away with the game in the second half at one point leading by as many as 20. But Chris Paul had one more run in him to keep his team in it. In the fourth quarter Los Angeles was able to trim that lead down to just 8 on a scoring run led by Paul and Jamal Crawford. Paul struggled scoring in this one but his ability to create baskets allowed him to help his club. Paul finished with 13 points and 9 assists. Those passes from Paul led to some clean looks for Crawford who closed out with 20 points off the bench.
That late run by Los Angeles wouldn’t be enough to bring them all the way back though and Utah took game 7 with a 104-91 win.
A difficult way to close out the season for a Clippers team that may look very different at the start of the next one. All credit in the world to Paul for trying to will this team into the second round but it just wasn’t in the cards for this group.
It pains me to say this but congrats to Utah, they earned it.
Thanks for reading along Clipper nation. On to the next.
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