(Jacob Gonzalez/Clippers)
It took one full game and another three days to stew on it, but it feels as though the Los Angeles Clippers have manifested the idea that the Utah Jazz have a 7-1, 245 lb. hole in the epicenter of their defense as the Clippers shot 33 times at the rim and made 27 of them–a 24-point difference from Game 1. De’Andre Jordan was a monster, posting 18 points and 15 rebounds with seven “where’s your big at?” dunks, and Blake Griffin chipped in another 24 points with 15 of his 21 shots coming in the restricted area.
While Jordan and Griffin made the majority of the highlight plays, it was Chris Paul who dissected the Jazz’s defense sans-Gobert like a surgeon. Utah typically plays a conservative, they have enough stout and flexible defenders to play man and switch when needed as Gobert’s hulking presence in the paint helps clean up any mistakes on the front end.
But without him, the Jazz’s perimeter defenders are forced to play with very little margin for error, and Utah simply has no real answers for plays like this one.
Here the Jazz lose Paul for a split second as he comes off a double screen set by Redick and Jordan, forcing Favors to help off Jordan at the nail. With Boris Diaw as the only other Utah big on the court, the Jazz have no one to prevent the lob to Jordan. This happened over and over again as Paul broke down his man and forced help to come from the paint.
When Utah decided not to try and corral CP off the pick and roll he punished them in all the ways Chris Paul can in the midrange, shooting 9 for 15 from the field for 21 points. Plays like this are also why Redick’s subdued performance (2 for 7 for four points) didn’t matter as much, as his role as decoy shooter scared the Jazz enough to continually stretch their defense in order to stick with him. This might be where Utah makes their adjustments headed into game 3. The Jazz have done an excellent job stymying the Clippers three point shooting thus far in the series (31.8 percent) but it has come at the cost of all these Jordan dunks. Utah may take their chances selling out on the Clippers shooters in order to shore up the paint, hoping they might go cold on the road.
“You know, you’re giving something up, and the pressure that they put on the rim was significant tonight,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder told ESPN. “We were not helping off [Redick and Crawford]. It’s just there’s a physical advantage around the rim.”
However none of these potential counters offer the kind of panacea the Jazz need for their defense to completely stop the Clippers. And, as demoralizing as it is to get dunked on over and over again, giving up a potential three point barrage as an alternative is a good way to usher in a blowout the Clippers couldn’t quite achieve in this game. That said there remain some areas of concern for the Clippers heading into Utah with the series tied 1-1. The Jazz are torching the Clippers any time a two man combo of Crawford, Felton, Pierce, and Speights share the court. And while the bench played well offensively in spurts in game 2, history has told us that this cannot be relied upon.
Still, despite disappointing in game 1 it’s clear that the Clippers have done what they needed to put the pressure back on the Jazz to adjust to Gobert’s absence. Whatever strategy Utah chooses for game 3 there will be something for Chris Paul and the gang to exploit. As it always is with these Clippers, execution will be the determining factor going forward.
The Clippers survived another terrible performance by Crawford and still won. That’s probably a good sign.
Crawford was 3-12 and 0-5 in threes in game two. That, of course, is not surprising because that’s typical of his playoff performances. In the two games so far this playoff season, he’s a combined 7-24 and 0-9 in threes.
Game three will be interesting. I’m curious to see how both teams play in Utah. With Gobert out, the Clippers may take both games there then come back to play game five at home. So it could only go five. But it’s not going to surprise me if Utah gets hot for one of it’s home games and the Clippers go cold in it, so then it could be a six game series.
In general I really like the first round of the playoffs, because there are so many series going on and most of them are interesting.
I’m certainly surprised that Chicago took two from Boston in Boston, and it’ll be interesting to see how things go when they play in Chicago.
It’s interesting that Indiana has come so close twice against Cleveland but is down 3-0. Close but no cigar.
It’s going to be interesting to see if Atlanta can even up things when they go home, because they’ve been playing pretty well even though they lost twice.
Are the Thunder going to be able to even things up when they play at home? This probably is the most interesting of the first round series.
Can the Clippers take the Jazz in five? Will Gobert play at all in the series?
Now the Memphis San Antonio series suddenly got interesting.
Neither the Spurs nor the Grizzlies are that good.
The Clippers or the Jazz would beat either of them. So will the Rockets.
Serious question:
If you created a 10 man rotation with the 5 best players from the Clippers and the Jazz could they beat a healthy Warriors team in the next round?
I don’t think they could. And half the roster would be injured by Game 3.
What happened to PR Tim and his pom-poms?
Did the first 2 games depress him that much?
Even the troll who’s obsessed with the Rivers family thinks the Clippers are going to win in 5.
I think Blake Griffin leads the league in bringing the ball up the floor and never getting a pick set for him.
So, what does Blake do? He goes into a dribble hand off or turns sideways to back his man down a few feet before he kicks it out.
There are guys who are bigger and longer than Blake who bring the ball up and initiate pick and roll. This shit should have happened once Blake started consistently making jumpers.
The Clippers are 5 time defending champions and soon to be 6 time champions.
So, there’s no need to change.
Oh, look, Blake did something explosive going to the rim and limped into the locker room.
But, I thought Blake was healthy?
Well, when Chris suffers his annual playoff injury the media will blame Blake for getting injured first.
Who wants another 5 years of guess the injury?
The best part is you get to play the regular season version and the playoff version. Exciting!
At least Blake was a +6 in the game he suffered a high ankle sprain.
DJ is -18 at the half. Chris is -11.
They’re saying it’s a toe injury now.
See, exciting!
#ItTakesEverything
Gotta love all the Twitter “tough guys” saying Blake should be playing because it’s only a toe injury.
NFL players have retired due to toe injuries. And they have the benefit of getting shot up by painkillers.
But, sure, he’s a bitch and you’re a manly man.
Chris Paul has been guarded by Joe Ingles the entire game.
If Chris didn’t score 30 he would have retired out of embarrassment.
I hope everyone remembers Chris Paul roasted Joe f**king Ingles when he’s shooting bricks against the Warriors two weeks from now.
Don’t worry, guys.
The Clippers have another home loss in them. And Chris Paul is due for that lower body injury.
Who would have thought having Joe Ingles guarding Chris Paul in the playoffs wouldn’t work out?
Any other top 15 PG would have lit up the pick and roll defense of Joe f**king Ingles and one knee Derrick Favors.
For all the Doc haters you need to focus on what Quin Snyder did in that game.
I see Clipper fans on Twitter embarrassing themselves over Chris Paul tonight.
I guess a 1st round game like this is enough for them. That’s why they’re losers.
The Jazz are without Gobert and Chris is being guarded by Ingles and an injured Favors.
He went 4 for 8 in the 4th quarter. So, I guess he’s no longer the 5th best PG in the NBA?
What would Curry, Harden, Westbrook, Wall, and Irving done against the pick and roll combo of Ingles and Favors?
Could they have gone 4 for 8? People need to stop embarrassing themselves acting like this was some kind of exceptional game by Chris.
So, Chris Paul takes advantage of a clear match-up advantage and he’s the “Point God” but we’re going to blame all the other 4th quarter playoff collapses on his teammates?
Hopefully Blake will go back to Oklahoma and have his body continue to break down there.
And when Chris Paul fails to make it out of the 2nd round for the rest of his Clipper career I guess they’ll blame it on DeAndre Jordan.
Fun fact: the “Point God” has never been on the floor during a 4th quarter collapse. Not once. Never.
By the way, are we going to pretend that Blake was anywhere close to 100% since November?
2015 playoffs Blake Griffin wasn’t showing up this year. He was a glorified David West out there anyway.
Blake needs to get away from Chris, Doc, and the Clippers training staff.
I was right about Chris or Blake getting injured in the first 3 games of the playoffs.
Am I psychic? Am I a troll?
Nope. I’ve just been watching this predictable f**king team for the past 6 years. And if you’ve been watching too you know what’s next. Even if you don’t want to admit it.
Well, I was more predicting Blake since 2 years ago, calling for a trade.
Yeah, for Enes Kanter.
At least Kanter isn’t hurt (and it was for more than that)
By the way, troll, 2 years ago was the 2015 playoffs when Blake was one of the 3 best players in the NBA.
Exactly, perfect timing when you’d get optimal trade value for him. Now you won’t get a thing.
2 years ago the Clippers might have gotten John Wall for Chris Paul but that ship has sailed.
Most players in the NBA had higher trade value 2 years ago because of age and the salary cap.
The only reason you part ways with a player like Blake Griffin is if he can’t stay healthy.
And even when Blake was playing this year he wasn’t close to 100% healthy. His body is breaking down. You can’t afford to invest 5 more years in his health.
Blake needs a new team with a great training staff and a coach that puts him in the best position to succeed.
The Clipper thing to do would be to sign Blake to a 5 year max contract with the belief they could trade him down the road.
But then Blake has microfracture surgery and he ends up being Chandler Parsons.
Even if Griffin was healthy, there were obvious weaknesses, and this team wasn’t getting past Golden State.
I suppose Doc has another excuse now.
I think CP3 will leave and the Clippers sign BG for 5 years. I’m not sure another team will pay him the max. I really hope Doc goes to Orlando.
The Clippers have an owner willing to pay the luxury tax and spend money on team amenities. The team is still in Los Angeles.
If they can build a better front office and hire a coaching staff willing and able to develop young talent the “rebuilding” won’t be as painful as during the Sterling years.
The Brand/Odom/Maggette Clippers were young and exciting. The 37 win 2004-2005 Clippers played team basketball with energy and effort.
A “rebuild” doesn’t mean going back to the awful Sterling years. It doesn’t mean being as incompetent as Orlando and Sacramento.
After 6 straight years of the same bullshit it’d be refreshing to see a young team develop together.
People were obsessed with Eric Bledsoe because he was young and exciting and it was interesting to watch him develop.
The Doc era Clippers play a joyless brand of basketball full of jumpers, flopping, bitching, and blown leads.
By the way, Bongstradamus, the 4 time All-Star Paul Millsap is averaging 25 points and 9 rebounds on 55% shooting in the playoffs right now.
He’s getting to the FT line 12 times per game. But he’s just a nobody.
And it’s not like the Clippers could also use a gritty player like Jae Crowder to guard the likes of Joe Johnson and Klay Thompson right about now.
Even with the injury, I still wouldn’t trade Blake Griffin for them. You dont trade young for old. Paul Milsap is 32 years old. Jae Crowder is still a role player. I’ve been saying we need a wing for 6 years. Then again, I also said we should reach for Isaiah Thomas at 37 instead of Trey Thompkins in the 2011 draft and wanted Paul George over Al Farouq Aminu. I thought we should keep Baron instead of trade him and that pick which became Kyrie Irving for Cleveland. We would have never needed to trade for Chris Paul with Kyrie, Isaiah and Bledsoe and could still have Eric Gordon dropping 3’s and a bunch of ball-hawks and gunners juicing one of the highest pace offenses in the league.
Being a reserve All-Star in the East is pretty easy these days. Paul Milsap is a great team player, and he gets voted in by the coaches. Even Chris Kaman was a reserve All-Star. I’d love to have Paul George on the wing locking down Joe Johnson and Kryie at point instead of Chris Paul.
But hey, we are where are. I’d have done it differently. I dont get to make the decisions, I’m just another disappointed fan.
Hahahaha.
You got sources for that bullshit?
And again, dipshit, I wasn’t calling for Blake to be traded. I was simply putting together trades that would make sense for the team if they moved him. Trades that Doc would make and not your NBA 2k clown ass.
Jae Crowder is 26 years old and over 6’4”. Will Blake Griffin still be in the NBA at 32?
Yea, the sources are my comment history and the archive. I thought you’ve been here for years, you dont remember?
Dipshit, it was you who claimed that idea was yours in the first place. And the trade doesnt make sense except from a salary perspective. The fact you keep bringing it up is just you being the clown.
Jae Crowder is a role player. He’s not worth Blake Griffin. Blake will still be playing at 32.
Now go back to filling up the comments section with the unhinged rants of the anonymous superfan.
I’m thankful I don’t know a Clipper fan who has such a boring and miserable life that they accept 6 straight years of the same joyless and predictable shit.
Could you imagine watching the same movie with a shitty ending 100 times a year for 6 straight years?
Could you imagine being in a relationship with a person like that?
What are we doing tonight, sweetie?
We’re watching “I Am Legend” for the 593rd time, dear.
Whatever you want, sweetie. I have incredibly low self esteem.
I’m seeing Clipper fans argue what’s better; a bunch of 50 win seasons without a championship or 1 championship year surrounded by misery?
Go ask the Cubs, the Red Sox, the White Sox, the Braves, the Angels, the Diamondbacks, the Saints, the Buccaneers, the Mavericks, the Anaheim Ducks, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Dallas Stars, the Villanova Wildcats, the Louisville Cardinals, the Syracuse Orangemen, the Maryland Terrapins, the Clemson Tigers, the Auburn Tigers, the city of Cleveland,
How the f**k is this even a question?
The Clippers don’t have the transcendent player to win a championship.
Are you going to find that player with the 25th pick in the draft every year?
Are you going to sign that player as a Free Agent after years of playoff failures? Are you going to attract that player as a Free Agent with the oldest roster in the NBA?
Are you going to trade for that player without any assets? Are you going to trade for that player by giving up the best players on your current roster?
“Rebuilding” gives you multiple paths to finding that transcendent player.
And, no, Chris Paul isn’t that player.
Chris Paul needs to be your 2nd best player to win it all.
Knee surgery changed his career. He was no longer the fastest PG in the NBA so he became a mid-range player.
Well, to say the Griffin injury is deflating is an understatement. I really wanted to see what might happen if Griffin and Paul really got it going.
I agree that it does give Rivers an excuse, and I also hope Rivers goes to Orlando.
I don’t like Paul Pierce getting minutes but these c**t fans running their mouths over and over again about Pierce is getting real tired real quick.
It’s like the clowns on here about Austin.
Those Pierce c**ts are the same c**ts who want the Clippers to keep this core together. Funny.
Trust fund Clipper “fans” are talking shit about Paul Pierce when he’s better at his job (at 39) than they’ll ever be.
Good thing Daddy earned enough money for them.
The “Point God” with another mediocre 1st half. He’s 3-8 right now.
He went 4-8 in the 4th quarter the other night and people acted like they witnessed a f**king miracle.
Clipper “fans” deserve the Clippers. I’m more embarrassed by other Clipper “fans” than I am by the team. Even the teams that won 15 games. I guess being born in California causes a specific kind of idiocy.
Joe Johnson is having a better 4th quarter in Game 4 than Chris Paul did in Game 3.
So, what kind of “God” does that make Joe Johnson?
The Clippers got a combined 10 points and 10 rebounds from Speights, Mbah a Moute, Pierce, and Johnson.
But, sure, they don’t need Blake Griffin.
Isn’t that right Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley, and most of Clipper Nation?
The Clippers have the “Point God” and the “Point God” never disappears in playoff games. The “Point God” never blows 4th quarter leads in playoff games. I thought that was all Blake’s fault?
The Jazz are the better team. They deserve to win this series. That doesn’t mean they will but they deserve to.
Hey, remember those 89 minutes Jared Cunningham played 3 years ago? What about those 103 minutes from CDR? What about those 128 minutes from Ekpe Udoh?
Joe Ingles is just another example of organizational incompetence. He had all these skills 3 years ago and his teammates loved him.
But the Clippers needed to carry Jordan Farmar, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Jared Cunningham, and Ekpe Udoh into the regular season. Great call, guys.
Joe Ingles played 1,673 minutes for the Jazz that year.
Another job well done.
By the way, for EVERY CLIPPER FAN who is saying Joe Ingles was cut because Jordan Farmar was hurt…
Jordan Farmar played on Opening Night that year and Cunningham got a DNP.
Guess what happened the very next night? Jordan Farmar played and Cunningham got a DNP.
Here’s the box score for Opening Night 2014.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201410300LAC.html
Good thing Joe Ingles was cut so that Jared Cunningham could practice in the week leading up to the regular season. Talk about short sighted thinking.
All 4 of the guys the Clippers decided to keep at the end of the bench are out of the NBA.
Joe Ingles and Derrick Favors trying to stop Chris Paul in the pick and roll in Game 3 was a terrible coaching decision.
Mbah a Moute and then double teams being thrown at Joe Johnson wasn’t a terrible coaching decision.
Utah kept making the right play and kept making the shot. It was great basketball on their end.
The Griffin injury was deflating and then the loss of the 7 point lead with 8 minutes to go and with Utah not having Hayward was even more deflating.
I was curious to see how the Jordan/ Gobert match-up would go for the whole series, then Gobert missed the first three games. Gobert out-played Jordan in game 4 but that could have been a fluke. We’ll see how things go there the rest of the series. That match-up could be what decides it.
It’s good to keep in mind that Redick was never a starter in his entire career before coming to the Clippers, not even when he was playing for lottery teams.
One thing that this series is likely to clearly show is something I’ve been saying for three years: Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are excellent, and everybody else has serious limitations and are not really good enough to start on a championship team. The other players do fine against so-so teams and so-so players, but when they go up against good teams and good players, they fall short.
That’s the fault of GM Rivers, who has failed miserably at putting a good team around Paul and Griffin. One bad judgment roster move after another since he got here. Squander, squander, squander.
Reddick was better in past years. I didn’t mind him a couple years ago, he’d be good on a team with a solid SF
Does anyone listen to ClipCast?
I can’t believe the franchise lets an alcoholic like Mike Jaglin into the locker room. It’s embarrassing.
I understand Chris Wylde getting a gig like that. He’s good at being a hype man and he’s naturally funny.
Team coverage was better under Andy Roeser and Donald Sterling than it is under Gillian Zucker and Steve Ballmer. How is that possible? With an influx of money how has the fan experience gotten worse?
Memphis has shown to be a good playoff team again. Not sure why they couldn’t get more wins during the regular season, looks like Jake was correct about that.
Gonna be a brutal off-season for the Clippers.
It’s not that Memphis is better than people thought it’s that San Antonio is a closer to being a one man team than people realized.
The Clippers would have beaten San Antonio this year.
San Antonio had the second most wins in the NBA this regular season, by a lot: six more than Houston, eight more than first place in the East Boston and ten more than last year’s champion Cleveland.
I’m not sure the Clippers would have beaten any team in the playoffs except Portland. They’d have had a good shot against Utah if Blake Griffin was healthy, but even then it would have been iffy, assuming all players were healthy. The West has seven good teams, and any of them could beat any of the others in a seven game series … well, as long as some of them aren’t playing Golden State.
The Clippers can still win this series. The jump shooters (Redick, Crawford, Rivers) can get hot. Sometimes they do, even though they usually don’t. I would say it’s 60/40 that Utah wins now that Griffin is out, but the jump shooters only have to get hot for two games and if they do, the Clippers likely will win this series.
But for the whole run of the playoffs … forget it. No way will the jump shooters get hot for that long of a run.
It’s really unfortunate that with Griffin out, the Clippers have nobody who can score inside other than Jordan, who only can score on lobs and put-backs.
The most important game of the season and the “Point God” is playing like it’s a Tuesday night in February.
Don’t worry, he’ll take a bunch of jumpers in the 4th quarter and that’s the last thing people will remember. So, who cares about the 1st half anyway? They don’t keep score during the 1st half.
The Clippers play so much better when everything runs through Chris and DJ, right? Wasn’t that the narrative?
If Utah loses tonight it’ll be because they took too many 3’s.
Who wants 5 more years of this shit?
It’s not that they lose, it’s that they lose in the same exact f**king way every single year.
They play a joyless brand of basketball when they win and they continue to lose in the same f**king way.
This is year 6 of this shit. Who wants to watch this shit until the year 2022?
Hey, what did I tell everybody after Game 3?
Did people forget that the Clippers blow home playoff games? Did people forget Chris Paul blows home playoff games?
I thought the Clippers were going to win in 5? Did you f**king morons forget the past? Did you f**king morons think this was a different roster?
The Chris Paul era Clippers are now 23-32 in the playoffs.
But, but, but, look at CP’s stats!!!
The only Chris Paul stat that matters is 23-32 in the playoffs as a Clipper.
I wouldn’t blame CP3. Well besides the fact that he wanted Doc Rivers, but then again he was supposed to go to the Lakers
If people call you the “Point God” you need to have a better record than 23-32 in the playoffs as a Clipper.
I think “God” would average more than 4 playoff wins per year over his career.
So, all these fans that have a hard-on for CP’s playoff stats would have voted for Westbrook as MVP, right?
Stats are all that matter, right? Records don’t matter?
23-32 over a 6 year span doesn’t matter? The Clippers average less than 4 wins per year in the playoffs. The “Point God” hasn’t gotten them close to a Championship.
In his career Chris Paul’s teams are 33-45 in the playoffs.
Chris Paul has 33 wins in his 9 year playoff career. That’s 3.6 wins per year in the playoffs.
I’m not putting this loss on Chris Paul.
People just need to stop with this “Point God” bullshit. And they need to stop blaming everyone else except Chris Paul.
Yes, I really agree with this “Point God” stuff, it’s gotta stop, most annoying nickname ever.