Now that the regular season has finished, the 2017 NBA Playoffs are now upon us. In the first round the Utah Jazz will take on the LA Clippers in what will be an amazing contest.
The LA Clippers and the Utah Jazz played four games this regular season with the Clippers taking the series 3-1. This gave them the tie break in the standings and home court advantage in their opening round matchup.
Regular Season Recap
L.A. hosted the first game on October 30. The Clippers came out on top of a low scoring affair 88-75. For the Clippers, Blake Griffin had a double double and Austin Rivers was huge off the bench with 19 points. For the Jazz, George Hill had 18 points. Gordon Hayward was out with his broken hand.
Utah hosted the second game, which was played on February 13; in another low scoring match the Clippers again prevailed 88-82. Griffin collected another double double., as did DeAndre Jordan. For Utah, Rudy Gobert finished with a double double but the Jazz were simply outclassed.
Utah hosted the third game and this was their only win, 114-108. Gordon Hayward scored 27 and Gobert collected a double double. Chris Paul scored 33 for the visitors.
L.A hosted the final game, with the hometown Clippers prevailing 108-95 behind Jamal Crawford’s 28 points off the bench. Gobert was again huge for the visitors with a third straight double double against LA.
Projected Teams
Utah Jazz
Likely Starters
Center: Rudy Gobert
Power Forward: Derrick Favors
Small Forward: Gordon Hayward
Shooting Guard: Rodney Hood
Point Guard: George Hill.
Key Reserves: Joe Johnson, Joe Ingles, Boris Diaw
LA Clippers
Likely Starters
Center: DeAndre Jordan
Power Forward: Blake Griffin
Small Forward: Luc Mbah a Moute
Shooting Guard: J.J. Redick
Point Guard: Chris Paul
Key Reserves: Jamal Crawford, Raymond Felton.
Past NBA Playoffs History
There two teams have only played twice before in the NBA Playoffs. Both times were first round matchups in the 1990’s where the Jazz prevailed. The Clippers will be hoping that history does not repeat as they cannot afford another early round playoff exit.