The Utah Jazz has put themselves in a position to do what many thought they couldn't do. That is to make it out of the first round. They were granted some luck with Blake Griffin going down with an injury during the series, but you still have to play basketball to win, and the Jazz has played well.
Game 5 review
The Jazz ball movement was incredible in game 5. They assisted on 25 out of 35 made field goals but more importantly than that is they were getting wide open shots.
They moved the ball well and even though they missed a lot of shots throughout the game, they were getting those looks, and there's not much more you can ask for than that.
Joe Johnson and Rodney Hood came up huge in this game. Gordon Hayward had 27 points, and the Jazz took care of business in Los Angeles.
Defense
The defense has been a huge issue for the Los Angeles Clippers. Frankly, the size difference across the board between the Jazz and Clippers is huge. The Clippers can't match up with Utah's size on the wings. Joe Johnson can get a size mismatch on a switch anytime he wants, and the Clippers can't do anything about it.
This is a problem on defense for the Clippers and on offense. J.J. Redick has an incredibly hard time finding room to shoot because guys like Hood, Ingles, Hayward and Joe Johnson are all equipped with a ton of length that defend the Clippers well.
The way this series has gone, the games are all very close. This can be taken as a positive for Los Angeles, but the fact is the Jazz just aren't hitting shots consistently. They could win games by double digits in this series if they shot always. If you are a fan of the Clippers, you have one last hope for this series.
That's Chris Paul.
Paul is arguably the top player in this series, and if he isn't then, he is second. We've seen Chris Paul take his teams single-handedly to victories and at this point, it's looking like he'll have to if the Clippers want to advance.
The Warriors are watching this series from home, but not only do they want this series to go as long as it can, they surely want to avoid the Jazz in the second round.
The Clippers have a lot more holes than the Jazz has.
With Blake Griffin out, it would be a shock to see the Clippers win this game and push it to a 7th game. The Jazz are just playing so well as a team right now, and their confidence level is through the roof. They have been getting their shots easier than Los Angeles has and it's shown.
