Utah Jazz: Takeaways From Game 5 Win Over Clippers
By Adam Coffman
With the series tied 2-2, the Utah Jazz took a decisive victory in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. What does this mean going forward and what can we take away from the game?
Coming into Game 5, the Utah Jazz knew that their playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers would likely come down to Tuesday night’s clash. Historically, teams that go up 3-2 with a win in the fifth game have won that series around 82 percent of the time.
For the first time virtually all series, the Jazz were able to start their ideal lineup, with Rudy Gobert in his second game back from a knee injury and Gordon Hayward returning from a bout of food poisoning that limited him to just a handful of ineffective minutes in Game 4.
Hayward led Utah in scoring by a wide margin, putting up 27 points and eight rebounds on 9-for-16 shooting.
No one else for Utah eclipsed Rodney Hood‘s 16 points, but a total of six players finished in double figures.
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For Los Angeles, Chris Paul once again led his squad with 28 points, although J.J. Redick was close behind with 26. DeAndre Jordan was the only other Clipper with more than10 points.
Both teams went on early runs to start the game, with the Clippers jumping out to a 7-0 lead before the Jazz went on a spurt of their own to make the score 11-7.
After that, the score remained relatively close, with Utah carrying a 46-43 halftime advantage.
In the second half, the Jazz began to pull away and did not look back, never trailing for the game’s final 25 minutes.
Scoring was streaky throughout, but Utah eventually came out on top thanks to some more clutch play from Joe Johnson, who once again scored a decisive bucket to sway the result in favor of the Jazz.
There’s plenty to remember as the series shifts into its sixth game, so let’s get into the takeaways!