The Los Angeles Clippers took the game three in the series over the Utah Jazz with a big 111-106 win. The Jazz had the lead almost the entire game, but the Clippers stepped up big in the final quarter, as they outscored Utah 29-22 in the fourth quarter. Both teams shot in a high percentage from the field in this game. The Clippers shot 55 percent, while the Jazz shot 52 percent from the field. The story of the game was a rebounding difference, as the visitors out-rebounded the home team 41-27.
Blake Griffin's injury
The Clippers suffered another tough injury, as Blake Griffin left the game with a thumb injury and did not return to the game.
Griffin played just 18 minutes, as he scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds, without committing a turnover. It has been announced that Griffin will miss the rest of the playoffs. So, with Blake out, Chris Paul stepped up and scored 34 points, while shooting 12 of 22 from the field. Paul also had 10 assists, seven rebounds and two steals in the game. DeAndre Jordan posted another double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while shooting 7 of 14 from the Free Throw Line.
Luc Mbah a Moute added 15 points and six rebounds for the Clippers in 36 minutes on the floor. Paul Pierce played a big 20 minutes off the bench because of Griffin's injury, but he finished the game without a single point, as he took only one shot.
Jamal Crawford, Marreese Speights and Raymond Felton combined for 26 points, as they scored all the Clippers bench points.
Great performance by Gordon Hayward
Utah Jazz played a third straight game without Rudy Gobert, their leading rebounder. Derrick Favors played in a center position, but had an awful game with just two points and six rebounds in 38 minutes on the floor.
Gordon Hayward had a great game with a career-high 40 points in 42 minutes. Hayward scored 21 points in the first quarter, while shooting 7 of 8 from the field and 3 of 3 from downtown.
The Utah Jazz outscored the Clippers 34-21 in the first quarter, but they lost all the other quarters. Hayward finished the game with 40 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while shooting 13 of 21 from the field, 4 of 8 from the outside and 10 of 11 from the free throw line.
George Hill had a high scoring game with 26 points, as he shot 9 of 15 from the field and 4 of 6 from the three point line. Joe Johnson added 15 points off the bench in 33 minutes.
The next game is on the schedule for Sunday, at 9:00 pm.
