Jazz at Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers look to move past a couple of tough losses when they host the Utah Jazz on Saturday in the opener of a three-game homestand. Los Angeles lost at Golden State in an intense contest on Wednesday and succumbed in overtime against high-flying Portland one night later and now returns to the home building in which it has a 12-2 record. Utah posted a 105-103 home victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
The Clippers look to get re-energized after the two emotional setbacks against Western Conference playoff-caliber clubs. “It’d be different if we lost both games by 15 or 20 points, but to lose two emotional games like that is tough,” veteran guard Jamal Crawford said after the Portland loss. “I think, honestly, those ones are more tough to digest than losing by 20.” The Jazz have the worst record in the West but have posted victories in five of their last nine outings.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ROOT (Utah), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (9-23): Power forward Derrick Favors was the hero in the victory over the Lakers, dunking home a putback with 2.1 seconds left to provide the winning points. Favors had 18 points and 14 rebounds and said afterward that he had never previously made a game-winning shot at any level of basketball. He charged toward the rim and was in perfect position to follow Gordon Hayward’s miss. “He came in and cleaned up,” Hayward said. “I saw him with the finish and that’s all I needed to see.”
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (20-11): Power forward Blake Griffin (35 points, 11 rebounds) and point guard Chris Paul (34 points, 16 assists, six steals) both had monster nights in the showdown against Portland, which only made the loss more frustrating to accept. The two players also repeatedly watched replays afterwards of the game-tying 3-pointer in regulation by Nicolas Batum and pointed out their own mistakes on the play that allowed the contest to continue. Paul also failed on the offensive end in the clutch for the second consecutive night. The Clippers are still coming up short too often in close games against tough teams but it’s hard to fault the effort of Paul and Griffin.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Clippers swept last season’s four meetings and have defeated Utah six consecutive times.
2. Hayward had 24 points in the win over the Lakers after topping 20 just once over the previous nine games.
3. Los Angeles C DeAndre Jordan is averaging 16.2 rebounds over the past five games, pulling down 17 or more on three occasions.