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The Utah Jazz have suffered their first road loss during the 2021 postseason after being thoroughly outplayed by the Los Angeles Clippers in game 3 of their Western Conference semifinals. LAC's superstar two-way tandem of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard combined for 65 of LAC's 132 points to drive them home.
The Clippers' efficient shooting performance from the field was simply too much for the Jazz tonight. As a result, Utah have thus let go of a golden opportunity to 3-0 up on the Clippers and essentially seal a spot in the Western Conference Finals.
Nonetheless, Utah still hold a 2-1 advantage over Los Angeles and will look to go up 3-1 on the Clippers during Game 4 on Monday evening at 10 p.m. ET.
Anyway, let's take a look at five reasons why the Utah Jazz suffered their first road loss of the postseason in this crucial match.
#1 Bojan Bogdanovic goes cold
After averaging 17 points during the first two games of the series, Bojan Bogdanovic went ice-cold tonight, scoring only 9 points while shooting 2-10 from the field and 1-5 from the three-point line. Bogdanovic was getting quality looks all night, he simply wasn't knocking them down. He also finished Game 3 with a plus/minus of -17, the worst out of all Jazz starters.
#2 Utah's defense regresses
The Clippers averaged 114 points per game during the regular season, which was the 10th-most in the league. Nevertheless, the Jazz held the Clippers slightly below their season PPG average during Games 1 & 2, as LAC averaged 110 points.
However, tonight in Game 3, Utah allowed Los Angeles to score 132 points, which is the most they've given up all season long (Reg & Postseason). Furthermore, after holding the Clippers to 42% from the field in Game 1 and 47% in Game 2, LAC shot an ultra-efficient 56% from the field in Game 3.
#3 Utah fail to withstand LAC's hot shooting onslaught from three
During the first two games of the series, Utah did a solid job of making things uncomfortable and forcing the Clippers to bear a healthy dose of contested shots from behind the arc. This played a role in Los Angeles shooting a combined 27/72 (37.5%) from the three-point line.
It was a different story tonight. Utah's defense wasn't as stout in Game 3 as their previous two wins. Clippers head coach Ty Lue made a shrewd lineup change, opting to revert to his Game 1 starting lineup with Nicolas Batum replacing Ivica Zubac as the team's starting center.
The move turned out to provide major dividends, as it seemed like Utah didn't know how to slow down the Clippers offense when they played 5-out when Batum was on the court. Los Angeles garnered an abundance of open looks at the three-point line and took full advantage, knocking down 19 of the 36 (53%) three-pointers they attempted.
#4 Donovan Mitchell cooled off (sort of)
Donovan Mitchell just about continued his five-game postseason streak of scoring at least 30 points in Game 3, making 30 points while shooting 11-24 (45.8%) from the field and 5-9 (55.5%) from the three-point line.
In Utah's first two wins over Los Angeles, Mitchell averaged a jaw-dropping 41 PPG on a combined 52.5% from the field. With Utah's starting point guard, Mike Conley Jr., missing his third consecutive game due to a right hamstring strain, Mitchell needed to replicate his scorching performances in Games 1 & 2 if the Jazz wanted a shot at taking a commanding 3-0 lead over the Clippers.
While Mitchell ultimately had an overall productive performance after going scoreless in the first quarter, he wasn't the most dominant player on the court tonight when his needed him to be. As a result, the Jazz saw their 2-0 lead cut down.
#5 The Jazz allowed Kawhi & PG13 to dominate
The Clippers' starting lineup scored a combined 105 points, nearly outscoring the entire Jazz team. At the forefront of this were Kawhi Leonard and Paul George who combined to score 65 of LAC's 132 points, while shooting 26-48 (54.1%) from the field, 7-16 (43.8%) behind the arc, and 6-7 (85.7%) at the charity stripe.
Leonard also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, while both he and George dished out a game-high 5 assists. George also converted a game-high six three-pointers. Matter of fact, PG13's six threes in Game 3 were more than the total three he made during Games 1 & 2 at Utah (Five).
Guess the Bulls players in this quiz and it's not going to be easy!
