Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Clippers: Keys to the Game

Key Stat – Three-Point Percentage

I hate to make it seem like I’m beating a dead horse with this stat, but the fact of the matter is that it’s becoming more and more the case that when the Jazz are dropping threes, they’re typically able to come away victorious.

However, it’s not just a simple matter of whether the Jazz are making their three-pointers or not. Lately the Jazz offense has tended to fall stagnant for extended periods of time. When it does so, the Jazz are struggling to move the ball well and ultimately are settling for less than optimal shots. That’s a big reason why they have failed to shoot better than 30 percent from deep in each of their last four contests, three of which have been losses.

In the latest victory over the Clippers, however, this couldn’t have been further from the case. Particularly in the second half, it seemed as if Utah found a seam in LA’s defense and took full advantage. The ball was moving well, the offense was humming and the Jazz were able to take and convert on several good looks from deep.

They cashed in on a red hot 14-of-21 (.667) outing from behind the arc which included going 6-of-6 in the third quarter, much to the chagrin and disbelief of several Clippers players, who largely pinned the loss on Utah’s hot hand.

It’s worth noting that the Clippers shot very well from behind the arc as well, going 12-of-30 (.400), which is over their season average and typically would be a high enough rate for them to win. Therefore, since it’s hard to imagine Utah replicating their 66.7 percent shooting performance from the most recent match-up, they’ll likely need to shore up their perimeter defense and slow a Clippers team that converted on several tough threes that night as well.