Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Keys to the Game

Key Match-up – George Hill and Chris Paul

These two rosters could potentially make for several important key match-ups. There’s the battle at the center spot between DeAndre Jordan and Rudy Gobert that’s always a fun rivalry of two solid rim protectors and electrifying finishers on offense. There’s also the vital match-up between Derrick Favors and Blake Griffin. Griffin has long been a Jazz killer so Utah needs their power forward to step up in a big way.

However, given the fact that both of those Jazzmen sat out last game with injuries, I’m a bit hesitant to pin either one in this contest. It certainly seems very unlikely that Favors will be back in action and while all indications are that Rudy’s setback is only minor and he should be able to play on Monday, I’m not going to risk jinxing either of Utah’s big men by slotting them here.

Therefore, the key match-up that I’m looking forward to the most is at the point guard spot between George Hill and Chris Paul. Of course Hill has missed games recently with a lingering toe issue as well, but the fact that he suited up for the game against the Thunder seems to provide a relatively strong indication that he will indeed play tomorrow as well.

And if he does, the Jazz will need him to be significantly more impactful than he was in Saturday’s game against Oklahoma City. Hill played just 18 minutes in the contest, which I’m sure was due to both a desire to take it easy on him with his injury woes and the fact that the Thunder were well in the driver’s seat for most of the game given the complete lack of energy that Utah’s starters came out with.

Whatever the case though, in those brief minutes, Hill finished with just nine points, albeit at a respectable 3-of-6 shooting clip while going a perfect 1-of-1 from deep. Sure, maybe he could have done more if he had been allotted more playing time, but the fact of the matter is that the Jazz will need Hill to be much more aggressive and productive to have any chance of beating the Clippers tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/831354971337682944

Hill was decent in Utah’s first contest against LA, finishing with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting in a game which saw the Jazz play without Gordon Hayward, but he was absolutely atrocious the last time these two teams met (as was Hayward, quite frankly). Hill went just 2-of-11 from the field and 1-of-6 from deep en route to a meager six points in the contest.

It was a dismal shooting performance all-around for the Jazz as they finished just 32.2 percent from the field which included Hayward going just 2-of-12 himself. What’s worse is that in Utah’s embarrassing loss to the Clippers, LA was without their star point guard Chris Paul, but he’ll definitely be in action for tomorrow’s contest.

And it hasn’t taken long for Paul to get back to full bore following his injury as he has, as expected, played very well for this Clippers team since the All-Star break and even more so of late. In his last six games, Paul is averaging 19.5 points and has shot 50 percent or better in four of his last five outings with no fewer than 14 attempts per contest.

Therefore, it will be crucial that Hill live up to his reputation on defense and find a way to slow Paul, who’s exceptional not only at scoring but also setting up his teammates for easy baskets, while also being aggressive on the opposite end of the floor to help boost a Jazz offense that has floundered horrifically in both games against LA this season as they’ve failed to log more than 75 points.

If Hill struggles on either side of the ball, allowing Paul to go off or failing to contribute offensively himself, there’s a very good chance that this will be yet another long and frustrating loss for the Jazz at the hands of the Clippers.