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

Key #3 – Play with Confidence and Energy

One of the biggest issues that has faced the Utah Jazz in the three losses to the Clippers this season has been one that never appears in a box score, but is clear as day to anyone watching. In each bout, the Jazz came out looking timid, unconfident and flat-footed.

There’s no question that the Jazz have struggled to match-up with the Clippers core that’s consisted of Griffin, Paul and Jordan, so perhaps that has contributed to them mentally feeling inferior to the Clippers. Nevertheless, that sentiment absolutely has to stop in this series.

While, as I mentioned earlier, LA certainly is considered the favorite in this match-up, it’s only by the narrowest of margins. Aside from finishing with identical records, the Jazz also boast a net rating that is 0.2 higher than LA. And while the Clippers have a significant edge in offensive rating, Utah’s defensive rating is 3.1 points per 100 possessions better than LA.

In other words, the stats don’t lie and except for when these two teams play each other apparently, the eye test doesn’t lie either as the Jazz have shown on several occasions that they’re an elite team much like LA.

Unfortunately, that aforementioned timidness and lack of energy have devastated the Jazz against the Clippers. In each of Utah’s losses to LA this season, they’ve allowed the Clippers to jump out to enormous first half leads. In the first game, Utah was up by three to end the first quarter, but reverted to “tail between the legs” mode and was spanked in the second quarter 23-13. They never recovered from there.

The second game was practically identical. Utah managed to tie it after the first quarter, but the Clippers surged in the second quarter, outscoring the Jazz 27-15, then continued to capitalize on Utah’s apparent apathy by then topping them 31-15 in the third quarter.

In the recent contest that essentially was the battle to secure fourth place in the West, the Jazz came out and put up one of their most uninspired performances of the year. They quickly found themselves down 28-14 and though they managed to fight back a little bit, for the most part their lack of hustle and confidence was so overwhelming that it never felt as if they stood a chance.

It was such a lackluster showing that it caused Rudy Gobert to call out his teammates following the game claiming that not all of them came to compete. Frankly, I couldn’t have agreed more.

Therefore, while we could talk for hours about all that Utah needs to prepare for on the court, their most important preparation will take place inside their own minds. The Jazz need to be mentally prepared and come in with not only a self-belief that they can win, but also a determination to play as hard as possible and keep attacking the Clippers with energy and resilience.

Starting out on the road in what will be the first playoff game ever for several Jazzmen won’t necessarily be the best way to get their confidence up. Nevertheless, it’ll be vital that they overcome that and come out energized. When this team plays with energy, they move the ball well which leads to better scoring opportunities, which in turn allows them to get back and defend even better than they already do.

While this key aspect to the series may be the least measurable, it will be probably be the easiest to notice and could very well be the most important, as Utah’s ability or inability to do so will either cripple them or elevate them to new heights.