Utah Jazz: Second Round Within Reach

The Utah Jazz enter Game 6 with every expectation the series ends in Utah Friday night and without Blake Griffin, it looks like there are only 48 minutes left of this Los Angeles Clippers’ season.

Good things come to those who wait — the Utah Jazz have been waiting five years for playoff basketball and it looks like they’re going to get a little bit more than many outside the state expected.

After the 96-92 Game 5 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, the Jazz are at home Friday night, ready to wrap up a first-round series victory.

While some say it’s premature to write off the Clippers, it’s not in this Jazz team’s DNA to blow such a golden opportunity. This team fights and takes nothing for granted after battling for 50 wins despite a season full of injuries.

Preparation will be on point and the crowd will be deafening.

This series is over.

Utah Jazz

With the return of Rudy Gobert coinciding with Blake Griffin‘s toe injury, the Jazz got the upper hand and dragged the Clippers to Utah down 3-2.

Without Griffin, DeAndre Jordan has been forced to take on a role above and beyond even his reach.

Jordan’s numbers haven’t improved in Griffin’s absence. His double-doubles remain constant, but Gobert is stopping him from doing anything more than that.

As the rightful Defensive Player of the Year, Gobert can limit Jordan’s output while also turning away would-be layups by reluctant Clippers guards.

With Jordan limited, the Clippers have felt the impact of Griffin’s absence on the boards more than anywhere else.

Gobert made reference to the importance being put on rebounding when speaking to the Salt Lake Tribune:

"“Rebounding the ball has been a big emphasis, especially with DeAndre [Jordan] on the other team. He’s a great rebounder, so we’ve done a great job of being active on the defensive glass.”"

In their two wins with Griffin, the Clippers pulled down 40 rebounds per game compared to 30 by the Gobert-less Jazz.

With the tables turned and Gobert back in the lineup — after the Jazz stole Game 1 after losing Rudy after 17 seconds — the Jazz have grabbed 42.5 rebounds. The Clippers, sans Griffin, have only managed 32.5.

With the ball in their hands more, the Jazz have slowed the pace down to their preferred level. No team played slower than Utah in the regular season and with their pace in the playoffs almost on par, they’ve managed to force the Clippers out of their typically quick comfort zone.

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Playing isolation basketball against the shot clock and spending as much time in possession as possible has frustrated the famously moody Clippers.

At 98.22 in the regular season, the Clippers’ pace has dropped right down to 91.71 in the playoffs — gone are the days of a quicker-moving Lob City.

Forced to play Utah’s game on their home floor without their superstar power forward, the writing is already on the wall for the Clippers.

The Jazz have been exceptional at home this series, boasting an offensive rating of 120 points per 100 possessions, but their home-court dominance extends further than the last two games.

Since the All-Star break, the Jazz have lost just two games at home, one of them being the 111-106 defeat in Game 3.

Jazz offensive rating in series v. Clippers
At Home: 120 pts per 100 possessions

On Road: 104 pts per 100
possessions
— David Locke (@DLocke09) April 28, 2017

Given only 12 of the 240 minutes of this series so far have contained a double-digit lead, Friday night’s potential clincher will be a close one.

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The Jazz will go in confident, but not complacent. They know what a win would mean for their city and its fans but are well aware of the risks they would run heading to Los Angeles for Game 7.