Jazz at Clippers
The Utah Jazz rode an emotional roller coaster in the opening game of the playoffs but they finished it on a high note and can seize control of their Western Conference first-round series when they take on the host Los Angeles Clippers in Game 2 on Tuesday. Veteran reserve Joe Johnson's buzzer-beater lifted the Jazz to a 97-95 victory in the opener of the best-of-seven set as the squad overcame a difficult injury.
Center Rudy Gobert, whose breakout season helped Utah return to the playoffs for the first time since 2012, suffered a knee injury on the opening possession of the contest, leaving his status for the rest of the series in doubt. "I don't think we're ready to say today, tomorrow, a week, two weeks," coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "I think it's literally that wide open." The Clippers, meanwhile, were forced to wrestle with the loss of home-court advantage and know that they can ill afford to go back to Utah down 2-0 in the series. "The series doesn’t start until somebody loses at home," guard Chris Paul told reporters after producing 25 points and 11 assists. "I guess that [loss] started it. … Now we've got to see what we're made of."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, ROOT (Utah), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE JAZZ: Forward Derrick Favors was summoned off the bench when Gobert was hurt and he - along with Johnson - should see an uptick in minutes with the team's big man sidelined. Favors finished with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting in 32 minutes while Johnson was the team's top scorer with 21 points on 9-of-14. It will take a committee approach on the boards without Gobert - who was fourth in the NBA in rebounding (12.8) during the regular season - and All-Star forward Gordon Hayward did his part with 10 rebounds in Game 1, his best single-game total since Dec. 21.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS: Los Angeles is insisting there is no need to panic following the Game 1 loss, and its own playoff history is helping the players understand that it's a long haul. "A lot of guys have played enough playoff games to know it's truly a series," forward Blake Griffin told the Los Angeles Times. "Everybody says that. But we've been up 2-0 several times and lost a series [to Portland]. We've been up 3-1 and lost a series [to Houston]. We've lost a first game and won a series. So it doesn't really matter, you know?" Griffin scored a game-high 26 points and center DeAndre Jordan had 10 and 15 boards, but the Clippers struggled to free up their shooters, as guards J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford combined for 15 points on 7-of-19 shooting, including 1-of-7 from 3-point range.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Johnson, who averaged 9.2 points during the regular season, has scored at least 13 in six of his last seven games.
2. Griffin had six turnovers in Game 1 after committing a total of six over his final four games of the regular season.
3. Paul also had seven rebounds and three steals and he is averaging 2.8 thefts over a five-game span.