The Los Angeles Clippers tied up the series with an important victory over the Utah Jazz in game two at the Staples Center. Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 24 points and five rebounds, while shooting 11 of 21 from the field. Chris Paul had a double-double with 21 points and ten assists, while shooting efficiently 9 of 15 from the field and 3 of 4 from the three-point line. Paul also had three steals. Deandre Jordan added a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds, as he shot 9 of 11 from the field. Jamal Crawford added ten points off the bench.
Another low scoring game
The Clippers allowed only 91 points in the game, as they held the Utah Jazz to just 70 field goal attempts. They outrebounded the Jazz 39-33, as the visitors played without their leading rebounder Rudy Gobert, who was out with the hamstring injury. The Clippers had seven steals and four blocks, while the Jazz also had seven steals in the game. The home team outscored Utah 29-18 in the first quarter, as they kept the lead until the final buzzer. The Los Angeles Clippers shot 52 percent from the field and only 30 percent from downtown, but they had 14 field goal attempts more than Utah. Also, the Clippers had 26 assists, while the Jazz had only 15 assists in the game.
The absence of Rudy Gobert
Rudy Gobert's injury was obviously a big miss for the Utah Jazz, as they couldn't stop the Clippers in the paint. They also had some trouble rebounding the ball. Gordon Hayward was a leading scorer for the Jazz with 20 points and six rebounds, while shooting 5 of 15 from the field and 3 of 6 from downtown in 38 minutes on the floor.
Derrick Favors had 13 points and seven rebounds, while shooting 5 of 7 from the field, while Joe Johnson also had 13 points off the bench, but he was unable to score from the three point line in four attempts. George Hill added 12 points for the Jazz. The Jazz bench outscored the Clippers bench 30-28, but their starters couldn't find the way to fight with Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and Deandre Jordan, as they were outscored 63-61 by the Clippers big trio.
Here is what Blake Griffin said after the game: "I think we did a pretty good job of getting the ball in the paint. When we are hitting the three-pointers and putting some pressure on them inside, it's another level. But you know, those games aren't always going to happen. We just made it tough for Utah tonight and made them take the shots we wanted them to take."
The next game is on the schedule for Friday, as the series will move to Utah.
