Utah Jazz vs. LA Clippers: Keys to a much-needed home win

The Utah Jazz will look to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss to the New York Knicks last night as they host the LA Clippers tonight in a rare home back-to-back.

The Utah Jazz have been horrible on the road this season with a record of just 5-18. However, they did manage to earn a road victory on Wednesday as they handily defeated the Sacramento Kings by a score of 120-105. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to match that effort back on their home court last night as they fell to the New York Knicks in a heartbreaking 117-115 defeat.

And with that being the case, it’s become sad but true that the Jazz have been almost equally as bad at home as on the road! Not only are they just a middling 13-9 at Vivint Smart Home Arena this season, but their last home win came on December 30th against the Cleveland Cavaliers, meaning Utah has now dropped three straight home contests, all against beatable opponents.

That’s not a good sign at all for Utah’s already dwindling playoff hopes.

Nevertheless, they’ll look to turn things around this evening as they host the LA Clippers for the third time this season. For a while, with an onslaught of injuries and poor chemistry, it appeared that the Clippers were destined to stumble their way into the lottery this season. However, they’ve since turned it around and have absolutely been on fire of late after winning six games in a row and eight of their last ten.

Thanks to their recent play, LA now finds themselves in eighth place in the Western Conference with a respectable 23-21 record, good for 5.5 games ahead of the Jazz. The Jazz were able to handily defeat the Clippers 126-107 in their last meeting, forcing a series split on the season, but this is a revamped team since that game so this will be no easy contest. If Utah hopes to take the series lead and finally get back on track at home, they’ll need to step up their game significantly in these three key areas.

Key #1 – Force and thrive off of turnovers

In the previous contest between the Utah Jazz and LA Clippers, the Jazz were absolutely able to get the better of the Clips in the turnover battle. The Jazz forced LA into 19 giveaways while turning the ball over just 13 times themselves. Those 19 turnovers led to 24 Jazz points which provided a huge boost to their typically underwhelming offense.

And struggling to take care of the ball has been an issue all season long for the Clippers that the Jazz should very much aim to take advantage of. LA is just 21st in the league with 15.1 turnovers per game while also ranking 22nd in opponent points off turnovers per game at 17.4.

Meanwhile, despite all of Utah’s faults this season, one area where they have been really good has been at stealing the ball, but unfortunately they haven’t converted all that well from there. Although Utah is second in the league in takeaways, they rank just 13th in points off turnovers. In other words, if the Jazz are to beat a surging Clippers team tonight, they’ll need to not only take advantage of their tendency to turn the ball over, but then also convert on those turnovers at a higher rate.

After a giveaway, the Jazz would do well to look to improve in transition and get themselves some easy baskets so that they can avoid falling into the offensive lulls that have become so prevalent of late. The Clippers are a very effective scoring team, so for the Jazz to have any hope of success against them, they’ll need to get their offense going in whatever way possible, including on open looks in transition following turnovers.

Key #2 – Share the ball to produce good looks

Both the Jazz and the Clippers rank near the bottom of the NBA in assists with LA ranking 23rd at 21.5 per game and the Jazz ranking 25th at 21 per game. However, in these two teams’ last meeting, the Jazz offense was undoubtedly firing on all cylinders as they logged an incredible 38 assists compared to LA’s 23. That’s nearly DOUBLE Utah’s season average.

With neither team doing an exceptional job of setting up their teammates with easy baskets off assists this season, if one of these squads can find a rhythm doing so just as the Jazz did last time around, then it could very well be the difference-maker in the game. Of course, part of making the assist work is making the shot off the nice pass, which is something the Jazz need to do much better.

They’ve shot just 44 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from deep over their last 15 games, so regardless of how well they move the ball, it’s pretty obvious that they need to step up their shooting if they’re to have any hope of actually logging those assists. It seems like on several occasions (including last night against New York) the Jazz have left easy points on the table by not converting on beautiful passes for wide open shots.

If they can rack up the assists tonight as they aim to always make the right basketball play and share the ball effectively, they may just be able to get those shots to fall and produce the required offensive firepower to stop a formidable Clippers squad.

Key #3 – Contain Lou Williams

In wake of the loss of Chris Paul in an offseason trade, one might assume that the guy leading the Clippers’ charge into the playoffs would be Blake Griffin. He’s definitely been solid, but the player who’s really been impressive for the Clips has been Lou Williams.

Not only does he lead the team in scoring with 23.1 points per game, but he’s been very efficient this year. He’s shooting 45 percent from the field and a career-high 41.2 percent from deep. His effective play has certainly thrust him into the All-Star conversation this year as he’s at times single-handedly kept LA afloat.

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Furthermore, he is coming into tonight’s contest against the Jazz extremely hot. In his last six games, Williams is averaging 31.3 points on 47 percent shooting from the field and 43.5 percent from deep on over 10 three-point attempts per game. He’s also just five games removed from a mind-blowing 50-point outpouring against the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

In other words, stopping Williams will be an absolute must for the Utah Jazz. He’s been exceptional all season long and even better during the Clippers’ recent six-game winning streak, so if Utah is to put an end to that run while also getting back on track on their home court, he has to be one of their main areas of focus.

Prediction – Clippers 118, Jazz 106

As if it wasn’t already brutally clear, last night’s loss to the Knicks served as an unpleasant reminder that the Jazz are in a bad spot right now. The defeats continue to stack up and Utah’s playoff hopes are all but disappearing. Therefore, while I’d like to see them turn things around with a big win over the Clippers, I just don’t see it happening.

LA has been too hot while the Jazz have been too downright cold. Unless we get a monster night from the likes of Donovan Mitchell or Rodney Hood, this game will probably be out of reach. Therefore, I’m predicting a double-figure loss for the Jazz.

Next: Utah Jazz-New York Knicks: Rudy looks good, Jazz look bad

There’s a very good chance that in just under three weeks, this Jazz team could look entirely different as they’ve been mentioned several times as a potentially major player at the NBA trade deadline. Between rumors regarding Derrick Favors, Joe Johnson and especially Rodney Hood of late, the team could be in for a major shakeup.

Perhaps whatever changes are made there could help put a spring back in Utah’s step and allow them to push for the playoffs. However, with a tough contest tonight and a brutal stretch in the coming weeks that includes match-ups against the Toronto Raptors, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs, I have a hard time seeing that happen.

At least we can find excitement in watching Donovan Mitchell continue to blossom and perhaps some new and beneficial pieces joining the Jazz ranks in the coming weeks, because depending on how tonight and the next few weeks go, that might be all we have left to hold on to for the 2017-18 season.