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Clippers Take Game 3 In Utah 111-106

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With the series knotted up at 1 the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz squared off in Salt Lake City for a pivotal game 3.

Rudy Gobert remained out for Utah while Austin Rivers also sat out for Los Angeles.

However it was an injury that occurred during the game that had fans talking. Blake Griffin landed awkwardly after attacking the hoop in the second quarter.

Griffin would not return in this game after coming out just before halftime. Some positive news for Clippers fans is that it is just a bruised right toe and that doesn’t seem to be something that should keep him out long.

Even before Griffin’s injury the Clippers had their struggles. Defensively the team used a questionable strategy early on that involved switching every time there was a screen on a defender. This didn’t work out all to well for the Clippers defense as Gordon Hayward was able to free himself up from Luc Mbah a Moute after struggling in the first two games of the series.

Hayward took advantage of this questionable shift by the Los Angeles defense to the tune of 40 points by the time this game was said and done.

Despite Hayward’s scorching performance the Clippers were able to respond and keep the game close throughout. Chris Paul had to play some hero ball in the absence of Griffin, and good thing for Los Angeles he’s pretty damn good at it.

Paul took over the game in the second half and closed out his night with 34 points to go with 10 assists and 7 rebounds.

DeAndre Jordan also had to step up his game without Griffin helping him out in the post. The opportunities were there without Gobert shadowing him and Jordan was able to once again punish the Jazz on the block. Jordan finished up with yet another double-double getting 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Paul and Jordan are two key players fans probably expected to have a big night. Somebody fans probably didn’t think would step up, Mbah a Moute. Luc is very rarely an offensive weapon Los Angeles can rely upon. However statistics show that when he scores ten points or more, the Clippers odds of winning grow significantly. Mbah a Moute ended up with 15, and the stats don’t lie.

It came down to the wire and some clutch free throws but Los Angeles braved the hostile environment of Vivint Smart Home Arena and came out on top of the Jazz 111-106.

A huge win for Los Angeles as they overcame an injury to one of their best players on the road while trailing to come back and get a good result.

Thanks for reading along Clipper Nation. Here’s to getting our third victory in a row on Sunday!

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