Chris Paul paced LA with 28 points and dished out nine assists in Tuesday night’s 96-92 home loss in Game 5, marking the first time in five outings that the point guard has been held below 10 dimes.
Well, that’s what happens when you lose a main cog on your offense. Blake Griffin’s deemed out for the rest of the playoffs, and Paul’s had to do most of the ball-handling and scoring in the last two games for the Clippers, who are now in a must-win situation heading into Utah for Game 6.
The former Hornets guard is averaging 27.0 points with 10.4 assists in this series overall, but expect him to continue taking and making shots to keep his team in the game, especially during times when the Jazz—along with the non-stop cheers from their home crowd—go on mini runs or spurts.
For the Clippers to force a do-or-die Game 7, however, they need an unlikely hero to step up and help out on offense. Jamal Crawford could be that guy again, as he tallied 25 markers off the bench back in Game 4.
Six players scored in double figures for the Jazz in Game 6—with Gordon Hayward’s 27 points leading the way. But once again, it was Joe Johnson who delivered in crunch time to secure Utah the W.
Iso Joe hit a pair of big shots in the fourth quarter, and finished the game with 14 markers, eight rebounds and three assists. He is averaging 21.0 points on 60.0 percent shooting in the three Jazz victories in this series.
Utah also won the battle inside in the previous game, controlling the boards (50-44) and outscoring LA in the paint (34-28). The same was true for the defense, as the Clips were held below 100 points again. The Jazz should manage to close it out here as long as they continue dominating those areas.
