Clippers make it a 2-1 Playoff series against Jazz with a 132, 106 win

The Staples Center Arena, home of the LA Clippers, tonight's Utah Jazz opponent. Photo: David Vives

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In tonight’s third game of the NBA Playoffs’ second round, the LA Clippers came to play against the Utah Jazz, and play they did.

“Kawhi Leonard had 34 points and 12 rebounds, Paul George added 31 points for the Clippers. Joe Ingles had 19 points for Utah and Jordan Clarkson added 14. The Jazz were 19 of 44 on 3-pointers, but 17 of 40 inside the arc as the Clippers’ zone defense caused problems,” wrote the AP.

Starting off hot, the Jazz shortly thereafter found itself playing catch-up more often than not. Going into the series behind 0-2, the Clippers realized that no NBA team had ever recovered from a 0-3 deficit and didn’t intend to succumb to that scary stat. The first quarter was a see-saw showdown with multiple ties and nary more than a five-point lead on either side. Then LA got serious and never looked back.

LA had carved out their biggest lead in the series with two and a half minutes left in the first half.

Jazz forward Joe Ingles said in a post-game interview on ABC, “There are a number of things we can look at and become a lot better at.”

Sports analyst Steven A, Smith had recently said that Donovan Mitchell of the top-ranked Jazz was the greatest player in franchise history to which ABC TV NBA commentator for the second game in a row Doris Burke respectfully questioned live tonight, backed by sky-high stats from John Stockton and Karl Malone. The Jazz’s usually not-so-secret weapon Mitchell spent the entire first quarter tonight scoreless for the first time in his post-season career.

 The Clippers Reggie Jackson with his DETermined to Assist foundation couldn’t help but assist his team tonight.

One of the very first things viewers no doubt noticed about this game was the state of the venue. used to seeing a full capacity crowd inside the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City for the first two games, LA’s Staples Center was mostly COVID cardboard cutouts.

The winner of this series goes on to play the winner of the Nuggets, Suns matchup in which the Suns are up 3-0. LA tries to even the score against Utah on Monday night on TNT at the Staples Center.