New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis suffered a right knee bruise in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers that could hamper him moving forward this season. The Pelicans need to try to run circles around them and tempt the Jazz to join them.
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Start to finish, the Clippers played well.
“It’s hard to guard when you’re getting that many contributions from everybody”, Hayward said. “And to me, when you look at our team, that’s part of the reason”. In head-to-head matchups between Griffin and Davis, the Clippers are 8-1.
Afterward, Rivers was asked point blank – what is wrong with this team? By halftime he had already surpassed his season-best rebounding game with 10 boards.
“I thought our energy was great tonight”, he said. “I think we defended pretty well tonight and moved the ball and made shots. But I just don’t like where we are at now and clearly I can’t put my finger on it”.
Thus, a lot of hope for a win in Utah may fall onto the shoulders of a Pelican looking to make his first appearance of the season, Tyreke Evans.
“That’s been our issue all year”, Rivers said. “We got our in transition, which is something we’ve talked about all year but really haven’t done. And timely ones as well”. After making five of 11 from the field and just one of three from deep for 19 points against Oklahoma City, Hayward came back with an impressive 11 for 22 showing against the Clippers that included shooting five for seven from behind the arc to total 33 points. He finished with 17 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes.
It was pointed out to Paul that his team is again below.500. Like I said, it will come around. It is not fair to our fans because we know we are better than this. While it will be a daunting task to defeat both the Warriors and the Pacers, if the Jazz are even able to go 3-1 during their first homestand, it will serve as a clear early-season message that the Jazz are able to defend their home court and are truly on track to becoming a playoff team. Wesley Johnson, who started for the second consecutive game, did not score.
New Orleans, which was expected to take that next leap among top National Basketball Association teams, has struggled out of the gates and now holds the worst record in the Western Conference. As a group, there is no rhythm.
To be sure, you’d like to avoid this happening multiple times in a game, and the Jazz could have saved some miles on their best players’ legs.
Hayward hit an off-balance shot and Hood added two free throws to put a stop to the Pelicans’ final surge, helping Utah re-establish a double-digit lead at 94-84.
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This overall effort was the way Griffin thought it could be when the season began. “He has continued to improve as a player and I’m looking forward to seeing him healthy.”…
