Utah Jazz: Keys to a First Round Victory over the LA Clippers

If the Utah Jazz hope to arise victorious in their first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers, they’ll have to be exceptional in these three key areas.

The NBA Playoffs are here and for the first time since 2012, the Utah Jazz are back in action. It’s been an exhilarating season that couldn’t have ended much better as Utah was able to earn 51 wins after putting away the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs in their final two contests.

Now, however, Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert and the rest of Utah’s young core will be in for the biggest challenge that they have faced yet – a first-round match-up against the formidable Los Angeles Clippers.

LA earned the fourth seed and home court advantage by the narrowest of margins. Despite the fact that they finished the regular season with an identical record to the Jazz of 51-31, the Clippers defeated the Jazz 3-1 in the regular season which gave them the tiebreaker. Considering the Clippers trio of proven All-Stars and their stark advantage in postseason experience, it’s pretty clear that they are the favorites in this series, albeit by a small margin.

However, the Utah Jazz have proven all season long that they have the firepower and potential to compete with the best of the best. Yes, they lost the regular season series to the Clippers 3-1, but Utah played phenomenally in the lone win and despite several injuries this year, the Jazz pulled out several other wins over big-time opponents.

And if the final game against the Spurs is any indication of the health that Utah will have moving forward, then the Clippers may be looking at an entirely different team from the one they faced four times already this season.

The Utah Jazz are an astounding 12-2 in games that George Hill, Rodney Hood, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert have all played, and with all planning to be in action for Game 1, the Jazz have a chance to build off that success and get the series started out right.

Nevertheless, it’s still going to be an uphill battle for Utah to advance to the second round. Although the Clips are known more for their playoff disappointments than their playoff successes, this is still a team that is very familiar with the postseason and has plenty of experience playing when the stakes are highest.

Therefore, the Jazz may very well be considered the underdog in this match-up. However, if they’re able to get a leg-up in these following key areas, then they may very well find a way to come away victorious in the series.