Clippers at Jazz
The Utah Jazz traditionally struggle against the Los Angeles Clippers
and their playoff aspirations will certainly be helped if they can
record a rare victory on Friday. The host Jazz have dropped 14 of their
last 15 games against the Clippers, including seven straight in Salt
Lake City.
Utah can point to progress against the Clippers as it did record a road win in Los Angeles earlier this season to end a 13-game series slide. The Jazz are in eighth place in the Western Conference and trying to hold off the struggling Houston Rockets for the final playoff spot. Los Angeles has won seven of its past eight games and Wednesday's 91-81 win over the Los Angeles Lakers allowed the club to reach the 50-win mark for the fourth straight season. Power forward Blake Griffin had 13 points and eight rebounds in his third game back from injury but didn't make the trip to Utah.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Clippers), ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (50-28): Los Angeles has fourth place in the Western Conference wrapped up and coach Doc Rivers plans to make sure his players get enough rest to be fresh for the playoffs. Veteran small forward Paul Pierce (knee) returned from a four-game injury absence to score nine points in 20 minutes against the Lakers and figures to see about the same amount of playing time against the Jazz. Point guard Chris Paul averaged just 23.5 minutes in back-to-back blowouts of the Lakers and is a candidate to sit out a game next week when the Clippers end the regular season with a back-to-back.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (39-39): Utah has held nine of its last 12 opponents under 90 points but holding San Antonio to 88 wasn't enough to get a victory. "If we commit to our defense, that can keep us in games," Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "Some of those games, hopefully, we cannot just stay in, we can win. But you've got to make shots to win. And when you don't make shots, especially if you're getting pretty good shots, it puts a lot of pressure on your defense." Small forward Gordon Hayward (12 points) and power forward Derrick Favors (eight) both experienced problems against the Spurs and Favors took only five shots.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Utah's last home win in the series was a 108-79 trouncing of the Clippers on Jan. 17, 2012.
2. Los Angeles SF Jeff Green (knee) is questionable after being injured against the Lakers.
3. Backup Jazz SF Joe Ingles hit all four of his field-goal attempts - including three 3-pointers - while scoring 13 points against the Spurs.