After the Jazz surprised a lot of folks by winning Game 1 without Rudy Gobert, the Clippers took advantage of The Stifle Tower’s absence Tuesday night to tie the series at 1-1.
DeAndre Jordan came up huge for the Clippers in this game, ending the night with 18 points and 15 boards. Blake Griffin also dominated inside thanks to the void left by Gobert. Griffin finished with 24 points and five rebounds and put the game out of reach with a late corner three off a perfect pass by Chris Paul.
Paul finished with a double-double, 21 and 10 dimes to go with three steals. It goes without saying how impactful Paul can be when he’s on the court.
Utah still had five players in double figures, Gordon Hayward led the team with 20 on just 33% shooting from the field. They also shot 10% better from behind the arc than Los Angeles.
The Clippers never trailed in the game and shot a chipper 52% from the field Tuesday night. They, of course, out-rebounded the Jazz and had 11 more assists.
It was well known that this was all but a must-win for the Clippers, especially with the possibility of Gobert increasing with each passing day.
They did take advantage of Gobert’s absence, only being blocked twice by a team who during the regular season averaged five per game.
Game 3 will be Friday in Utah at 10:00 pm ET.
As of right now, there have been no definitive statements regarding Gobert returning for Game 3.
