The road gets tougher for both the Los Angeles Clippers and the Utah Jazz as they face each other in the second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs. Who gets the first win in this series? Check out our preview of this game below.
The Clippers somehow found a way to get out of the first round despite trailing Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, 3-2, after five games in the series. It just goes to show the resolve and the talent of the Clippers. Having been extremely tested right from the start of the playoffs could actually benefit the Clippers in the long run, as they look to upset the Jazz. Kawhi Leonard can be the best player on the floor against any team. He just torched the Mavs with an average of 32.1 points on 61.2 percent shooting from the field and 42.5 percent from deep in the first round. Paul George put up 23.6 points in that round but shot just 30.6 percent from behind the arc. The Clippers need to sharpen their outside shooting, especially against the Jazz, who are very much capable of burying teams with a barrage of threes. The Clippers are shooting 37.3 percent from long range so far in the playoffs.
Los Angeles is 4-0 against the spread in their last four road games versus a team with a winning home record.
The Jazz are coming off a long rest. Unlike the Clippers, Utah made quick work of the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round, winning the series in just five games. The Jazz lost Game 1 of that series probably because of rust as they also had to wait before they knew who their opponent was going to be. This time around, the Jazz are hoping they will be coming in all warmed up. Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz in the Grizzlies series with 28.5 points on 45 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from deep. Speaking of which, the Jazz continue to shoot great from behind the arc in the playoffs, as they are currently knocking down 16.8 threes per game on 40.6 percent accuracy, thus far in the postseason. Jordan Clarkson, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Mike Conley are all lethal threats in the perimeter. All told, the Jazz are tops in the playoffs so far with a 58.6 effective field goal percentage.
The Jazz are 4-0 against the spread in their last four games overall.
