When the game is winding down, just give it to Joe "Iso" Johnson. Down the stretch, Johnson came in a clutch and knocked in a huge shot of his 14 total points to help guide the Utah Jazz to a big game five win over the Clippers. Chris Paul tallied 28 points and nine assists, and JJ Redick scored 26 in the loss. The Jazz saw a balanced scoring attack and saw a huge help off the bench from Rodney Hood who totaled 16 points.
Points in the paint
With Blake Griffin being out for the series, points in the paint has taken a significant shift from these two teams.
In the previous games, when the Clippers were doing well they were dominating in the paint. In game 5, the Clippers just had 28 points in the paint. This won't get it done if you're Los Angeles. Apparently losing Blake is a big blow to this team, but Deandre Jordan and Chris Paul have to get into that lane to at the very least create shots for shooters like JJ Redick.
The Jazz got Rudy Gobert back in the perfect time. With Blake exiting and Gobert coming in, this Jazz defense is so much better in the paint. Not only did they give up just 92 points total, but they also held the Clippers to just 34 total rebounds. Combining all these things and it's no wonder the Jazz walked out with a victory.
Major key of victory
One of the biggest reasons for the Jazz' success in game 5 was their ball movement. They assisted 25 times out of their 35 made baskets. This is a huge key for this group is getting their ball movement on point and finding guys for good shots. The Jazz won't kill you by going fast, they had just 14 fast break points in this game, but they will kill you by execution.
The Jazz hit shots when it counted. Joe Johnson and Rodney Hood both came up clutch and when you combine that with Gordon Hayward's super efficient 27 points, you're going to win basketball games.
Adjustment Los Angeles needs to make
The biggest key LA needs to make is running a lot more small ball. That means instead of playing Mbah a Moute a lot, they need to get guys like Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford out there more.
They will lose a lot of defensive presence, but at this point they need scoring. They are getting suffocated on offense, and though most of the offense is generated from Chris Paul anyways, he needs shooters to throw to.
At the end of the day, it will come down to making shots. The Jazz at this point have the much better team on paper, but it's clear the Clippers can win, but they are going to have to make shots to do so. The Clippers are getting out-executed on offense and out-disciplined on defense, and they need to change that to avoid going home after game 6.
