LOS ANGELES (ABC4 Sports) – The Utah Jazz were looking to close out a disappointing road trip with a win against the Clippers. With a 25-point lead in the third quarter, it looked like they were going to build some momentum.
And it was deja vu all over again, the Jazz blew another big lead. The Clippers got that 25 point lead down to 12 to end the third quarter, before outscoring Utah 24-8 in the final 6 minutes and 37 seconds to steal a 121-115 win away from the Jazz.
“We turned the ball over eight times I think in the fourth quarter. We gave up, I want to say, 12, 14 second-chance points,” Utah coach Quin Snyder said. “Those are possessions we don’t get a chance to score. That’s 39 points around those two things.”
The Clippers got a huge boost to its lineup pregame, Paul George played his first game since December 22nd and he came up big.
“Just always come out with energy,” George counseled his teammates. “Our intensity has to be there. The game completely changes when we give ourselves a chance.”
George led LA with 34 points, and dished out a huge assist to Luke Kennard with 1:06 to play, giving the Clippers a 117-115 lead.
“It’s a big morale boost,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Guys were getting worn down and tired. We needed that.”
Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points and dished out six assists in the loss, Mike Conley added 19 points.
The Jazz didn’t do themselves any favors from the free throw line, shooting just 17-29 from the line.
Reggie Jackson came alive in the fourth for LA, he finished with 21.
The Clippers outscored the Jazz 39-21 in the final period to come away with the 121-115 win.
“We lose the values of this team, which is moving the ball. And that really affects our defense,” said Jazz Center Rudy Gobert. “It’s like everything flows and then it flows the wrong way, and we get disconnected more and more and more. And good teams know how to get us to that point.”
With the Loss, Utah is tied for Denver, both teams with a 45-31 record but Utah holds the tiebreaker and are
still the fifth seed in the Western Conference.
The Jazz will be back home Thursday, March 31st to host the Los Angeles Lakers.
