Jazz Lose Thriller In LA 97-101

Dec 29, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Utah Jazz forward

(center) drives the ball defended by Los Angeles Clippers center

(left) during the fourth quarter at Staples Center. The Los Angeles Clippers won 101-97. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Going into the game the Los Angeles Clippers had lost four of their last six games and were allowing 112.8 points per game.  In contract the Utah Jazz have been playing great over their last six games, winning four of them.  In those games the Jazz were averaging 102.3 points per game and holding their opponents to 90.0 points.  The best part of that streak by the Jazz?  Five of those six games were on the road.

Jazz looked to continue that streak in LA against the Clippers.  While they came close, it didn’t happen.  The Jazz fought strong and showed real potential.  They actually played one of their better games of the year, but in the end the playoff-bound Clippers won as the Jazz couldn’t hit their free throws down the stretch.

• Though the Jazz lost, they put up a real fight.  This is the type of game you walk away from as a fan and say “Man, that was a fun one!”

• Free throw shooting is what lost this game for the Jazz.  As a team Utah went 13-22 from the charity stripe.  They missed five free throws in the fourth quarter, including three in the last minute of play.  Had the Jazz made the free throws, this game would have been much closer.

• The Jazz played one of their best third quarters to date, out scoring the Clippers 33-29.  The Jazz put on a show with some amazing passing in this quarter.  However, in the fourth the went to playing ISO ball.

• The Jazz put DeAndre Jordan in the pick and roll early giving Derrick Favors some good looks.  They shied away from this as the game went on thought.

• It’s hard not to love the level of vocality that Quin Snyder is bringing to the team.  This directly correlates to the improvement that Enes Kanter has shown on the defensive end.  Quin can be heard yelling at his players just about every play on the TV broadcast.  He is often telling Kanter what rotation he needs to make.

• Watching J.J. Redick and Rodney Hood play against each other is great fun!  They are very similar players, from the same school.  Rodney could really use some time studying tape of Redick.  Redick is one of the best players in the NBA at moving without the ball in his hands.  This gets him open shot, after open shot.  If Hood can learn this skill, he will be a wonderful player.  Tonight he showed his versatility by posting nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block.  This is wonderful as rebounding was considered a weakness for Rodney coming into the draft.

• Derrick Favors had a great game with 15 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and an assist.  While Derrick Favors did not have a great shooting night, going 6-16, some of that could reasonably be attributed to the way he was being beat up by DeAndre Jordan.

• Fans were not a fan of all the complaining from Blake Griffin.  There were plenty of calls that were questionable with this group of referees, but no one cried about it more than Griffin.

• Gordon Hayward didn’t have his greatest shooting performance of the year, but still managed a stat line of 22 points, seven assists, and four rebounds.  Hayward also had one of the niftiest layups we have ever seen from him.

National media was awed by Hayward’s ball handling tonight after he shook

.

• Dante Exum had a pretty good night considering he was going up against Chris Paul for a portion on his minutes.  He showed his versatility posting a line of seven points, five rebounds, three assists, and a steals.  Dante also kept his turnovers down to one, which is lightyears ahead of the eight he had the first time he faced the Clippers.  The kid still needs to time to grow, but the early signs are good.  Dennis Lindsey, The General Manager of The Utah Jazz, let out a “That-a boy Dante!” after a Dante 3 during his interview with Harpring and Boler.

• Rudy Gobert does so many things in one play that he is forcing the coach to play him 25+ minutes a night.  Our friend Kevin Pelton Said it nicely.

"Rudy played 25 minutes and posted a double-double.  Gobert had a stat line of 11 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a ton of altered shots.  He had some great moments tonight that included a couple great passes and a monstrous put-back dunk.  You can see Gobert’s full highlights right here."