Key Bench Players
Jazz – Joe Johnson, Joe Ingles, Shelvin Mack, Dante Exum, Boris Diaw
Clippers – Austin Rivers, Jamal Crawford, Raymond Felton, Marreese Speights, Wesley Johnson
When looking at these two teams’ starting lineups, given the fact that the Clippers have a trio of All-Stars and one of the best shooters in the league in J.J. Redick, it’s easy to see how they may very well outmatch the Jazz. However, one of Utah’s strengths is that their whole is greater than the sum of their parts. And that truth doesn’t only apply to their starters, but also carries over to their bench.
Joe Johnson and Joe Ingles have been far and above the Jazz’s two best bench players this season. However, they’ll be countered by a strong and in some ways similar duo in Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers.
https://twitter.com/LAClippers/status/842088166983139337
Crawford and Johnson have some similarities in that they’re both aging vets past their prime, but they also both happen to be two of the most experienced and clutch players on their respective teams. When the Jazz have needed big buckets, they’ve often been able to turn to Johnson and the same has held true for Crawford and the Clippers. Crawford has notoriously been a Jazz killer, though, so hopefully Johnson will be able to dole out some revenge in this upcoming series.
Meanwhile, although Ingles and Rivers both have very different games, they’re both similar in that they’re unexpectedly effective. Both are largely overlooked by their opponents, it seems, yet both are able to contribute at a high level. Rivers has killed the Jazz in all four contests this season, shooting 50 percent or better each time and finishing with 19, 15, 15, and 11 points, respectively.
Ingles hasn’t had quite as much luck against the Clippers save his 18-point outing in Utah’s lone win, but he’s proven to be formidable all season long and the Jazz will most definitely need that out of him in this upcoming series.
Beyond that pair of players for either team, the rest of the guys are pretty well evenly-matched, though they can also be incredibly inconsistent. Shelvin Mack, Dante Exum and Boris Diaw have all had their ups and downs this season as have the remainder of LA’s reserves. One guy who stands out particularly on the Clippers, though, is Marreese Speights whose ability to stretch the floor as a big has hurt the Jazz, especially when Gobert’s been tasked with guarding him.
Unfortunately Utah may be without Raul Neto who had proven himself as a more reliable option than Mack and Exum, as he suffered a sprained ankle in the loss to Portland. On the bright side, though, if Joel Bolomboy’s minutes against Golden State were any indication of future usage, then the Jazz could have a diamond in the rough to bring off the bench in limited minutes against the Clips.
The Clippers have long been criticized for having a lackluster bench, but due to solid play from the likes of Rivers, Crawford, Speights, Raymond Felton and Wesley Johnson, they’ve actually become a pretty solid unit. Both Utah and LA are pretty comparable in terms of their second units, but thanks largely to the play (especially recently) of Joe Johnson as well as the three-point shooting prowess of Joe Ingles, I’m going to give the Jazz a slight edge in the bench match-up.
Advantage – Jazz Bench