Jazz at Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers have lost three straight games at a bad time and look to halt the slide when they host the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. The Jazz are soaring with 13 victories in their past 15 games after recording a 118-108 home win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.
Utah star guard Donovan Mitchell matched his career best of 46 points against the Nuggets as the club reached 50 wins for the second straight season as it will be the No. 5 seed for the Western Conference playoffs. "Everybody is stepping up and doing their part," Mitchell said during a postgame television interview. "We're playing great defensively. We're just excited to get this thing started with the playoffs." The Jazz have averaged 120 points while defeating the Clippers twice this season and have won the past five meetings. Los Angeles will try to bounce back from a 131-104 road loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, the team's second rough defeat in the past three games - a 135-103 to the Houston Rockets being the other.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (50-31): Mitchell was 5-of-17 shooting in Sunday's 113-109 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and he came out aggressive against Denver with 17 first-quarter points and he finished 14-of-26 with five 3-pointers. "The mindset was to come in and attack," Mitchell said during the postgame television interview. "Fortunately, shots went in. Credit to my teammates." Center Rudy Gobert contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds for his 10th straight double-double.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (47-34): Los Angeles has allowed an average of 129.3 points during its slide and hard-nosed point guard Patrick Beverley (hip) missed all three of the contests. Beverley is expected to return to action against Utah barring a setback or change of mind Wednesday and the Clippers have missed his feisty nature. "There's definitely a trend when he's not on our floor," Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers told reporters. "There's no doubt about that. ... So I think (being without him) was a good lesson, good test for us."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Jazz have shot 51.4 percent from the field during their five-game winning streak against the Clippers, and have prevailed by an average of 15.8 points.
2. Los Angeles claimed G Rodney McGruder off waivers from the Miami Heat on Tuesday, two days after releasing F Luc Mbah a Moute.
3. Utah PF Derrick Favors (back) returned from a four-game absence and scored 16 points in 22 minutes against Denver.