The Utah Jazz are suddenly struggling. Back at home for Game 5, they will aim to get control of the series lead again and slow down the Los Angeles Clippers. Check out our preview of Game 5 between the Clippers and the Jazz below.
The Clippers are back in the series. With Paul George and Kawhi Leonard playing sweet music together, the Clippers have managed to even the series up with back-to-back wins at home in Games 3 and 4. The challenge for them now is to beat Utah in Salt Lake City, which the Clippers have not done so far in the series. George is silencing his haters in the second round, wherein he is putting up 27.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.3 assists, while shooting 44.1 percent from behind the arc. As for Leonard, he is making 27.3 points as well in the series while converting over 50 percent of his shots from the floor. As long as George and Leonard are playing that well, the Clippers will always be a dangerous team to face, especially with momentum behind them.
The Clippers are 5-2 against the spread in their last seven after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game. The total has also hit the under in four of LA’s last four games on a Wednesday.
It’s the Jazz’s turn to respond with pressure on their shoulders. To take back control of the series, Utah has to be more aggressive on the glass. The Jazz have been outrebounded by the Clippers in all games so far in the series except for the first one. Rudy Gobert has to re-assert his dominance again after just scoring 11 points with only eight rebounds in Game 4. Jordan Clarkson has to find his rhythm again after going 3 of 12 in that game to finish with only eight points. With Mike Conley Jr. still questionable to play because of a lower-body injury, the Jazz are going to need Clarkson to come up with a much better offensive performance than the one he showed in Game 4. But at the end of the day, the Jazz will be looking for Donovan Mitchell to deliver. He’s been doing that all throughout the playoffs. He just scored 37 points in Game 4 to up his playoff average to 32.9 points per game on 46.0 percent shooting from the field and 43.0 percent from deep.
The Jazz are 4-0 against the spread in their last four games at home. The over is 6-1 in the Jazz’s last seven games as the favorite.
