Gobert was hurt when he banged knees with Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute. The Jazz can win this series if they get their best player back. You’ve got to get a different hashtag.
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He needs to get there quickly.
How’s this for a stat: the Clippers dominated in the paint to the tune of 60 points compared to the Jazz’s 38, and won the rebounding battle 47-39.
The x-factor, in my opinion, is Gordon Hayward. Utah then went on to outscore L.A.in the three remaining quarters.
Utah certainly misses the presence of Gobert, but with hot shooting, a return to their home court and time to game plan for the Clippers’ aggressive offensive attack, the Jazz have reason to be confident moving forward. “We’ll make them. We’re confident in whoever on our team takes those shots”. It’s going to be loud, and the Jazz are going to try and come out and rattle the Clippers early.
LA struck first and never trailed in the game.
The Big Three of Griffin, Jordan and Paul combined on 10-of-13 shooting and six rebounds in the first, when the Clippers shot 65 percent. “You’re not going to get to him”. You know what I mean? He averaged 14.0 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, but his defensive presence was where he made his greatest impact, leading the National Basketball Association with 2.6 blocks per game and defensive real plus-minus (5.99), per ESPN. Game 2 was very much the same statistically, but it’s all too obvious that his knee is still bothering him.
“We fought until the end of the year to get it, and now we’ve given it right back”, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “The paint doesn’t necessarily mean DJ or Blake”. Griffin finished with 24 points and Chris Paul chipped in with 21 points and 10 assists. If they get (defensive) help, they get it to Blake and DJ.
Thunder centre Steven Adams on Oklahoma City’s performance: “We were just trash on the reads, on the pick-and-rolls”. It will be important for us to not fall behind again.
His response threw a particularly sensitive segment of Jazz Nation into a frenzy. Jordan had 18 points and 15 rebounds in Game 2. The bench didn’t play well either, so there are areas where the Clippers can improve. “He just does so many things”. “He’s fighting through some fatigue”.
“It’s significant. We’ve talked a lot about Rudy’s rolling, about putting pressure on the rim”. Obviously, most people probably don’t want to be considered this kind of fan. “Half-rolls, floaters, jumpers, just the stuff that he’s done all year”.
That died when Gobert was lost to an injury in Game 1.
“Rudy’s not going to walk through the door right now”, Snyder said. Miss or make shots, we have to be aggressive like that. “But we can’t worry about one person and I don’t think my job changes if he’s playing or if he’s out. That’s a personnel issue”.
Leading 84-83 through three quarters, Toronto opened the fourth with an 11-0 run that included a pair of 3-pointers by Ibaka, and a third from P.J. Tucker.
Afterwards, Paul warned a hostile environment for Game 3 on Friday in Utah, calling the Jazz’s passionate fanbase “homers”. The incredible rally ruined Paul George’s big night. He also had 15 rebounds. After posting 10 assists in the first half, he only had one the rest of the way.
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In their first-round series against Utah, the Clippers did not fully employ that tactic until their Game 2 win over the Jazz. Making this blowout even more impressive was that they barely needed All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo. After a timeout, Oklahoma City scored the next eight points with 3s from Westbrook and Andre Roberson to cut it to 64-62 with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.
