Jazz Hammer Clippers, Continue Climb Up the Western Conference Standings

The Utah Jazz handed the Los Angeles Clippers an emphatic loss Tuesday night as they won the game by nearly 30 points 108-79. The Clippers were without All-Star Chris Paul and were playing the Jazz in the second game of a back-to-back-to-back which culminates in a tough matchup at home against the world champion Dallas Mavericks in a nationally televised (ESPN) game Wednesday night at 10:30 p.m. EST.

This game was as much about the absence of Chris Paul as it was about the surging Utah Jazz. The Clippers are not the same team without Chris Paul, and numbers don’t lie. With Paul, the Clippers score nearly 100 points per game, without him, a measly 85 points per game. With Paul, Blake Griffin averages over 23 points per game, without him, under 17 points per game. The Clippers never led Tuesday night against the Jazz and were down as many as 34 points at one point in the second half.

The Utah Jazz dominated almost every aspect of the game, making more field goals while attempting less, making one less 3-pointer while attempting 12 less, had more assists, less turnovers and more steals. They also out rebounded the Clippers and had more than three times as many fast break points.

Millsap outplayed Griffin, Jefferson outplayed Jordan, and CJ Miles had a huge game off the bench with 19 Points, 5 Rebounds, and 4 Steals. The human pogo stick Jeremy Evans, who had 9 points from 4 dunks (3 of which were alley-oops), was electric in this game and brought over 19,000 Jazz fans in Energy Solutions Arena to their feet every time he left the ground. Solid games from Enes Canter and Alec Burks, both of whom were 2011 lottery picks drafted by the Jazz in the off season, rounded out the strong performance of the Jazz bench which scored as many points as the Utah starters, 54.

The Clippers, who dubbed their style of play “Lob City,” got introduced to Utah’s own “Lob Lake City” last night and now know what it feels like to be on the wrong end of a poster multiple times a game. They could not stop the “Early-Oop” in any way as Earl Watson looked as comfortable throwing the oop pass to bench players as Chris Paul does to Blake Griffin. All the in-air antics aside, the bench play was critical in this game as strong showings from the young Utah back-ups allowed the starters to rest up for another big game this Thursday at 10:30 p.m. EST in a nationally televised (TNT) match-up with the world champion Dallas Mavericks. The Jazz finish out the week against the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night at 9 p.m. EST.

The Jazz, whom nobody predicted to even make the playoffs this year, might have just the right mix of youth, experience, and a hungry coaching staff to make a real impact in the Western Conference this year.

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