SALT LAKE CITY (NBA.com exclusive) --  The mere sight of reserve forward Paul Millsap checking into games always draws a huge and positive reaction from Utah Jazz fans.

And he kept the home crowd cheering throughout the stretch run in Utah's 111-98 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night. Millsap led a short-handed Jazz team with 23 points and nine rebounds, and also contributed the things Utah fans love about him -- hustle plays, defense, deflections, two blocked shots and a steal.

"That's who he is," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "He's come miles and miles [as a player] and he deserves a lot of credit for what he's been able to do."

Millsap changed the game's momentum in the final seconds of the third quarter. With just 1.2 seconds left in the third, Millsap made a follow shot off a miss by guard Ronnie Brewer. As he laid the ball into the hoop, he was fouled hard by the Clippers' Rasual Butler and knocked to the ground. But he got up, sank the free throw to convert the 3-point play, and got the Jazz within 84-83 to close the third.

"Paul came in and gave them a big lift in that second half," said Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy. "He really hurt us. He made shots and got offensive rebound points."

A Jazz defense that was matador-like for most of the night tightened up following Millsap's 3-point play. The Clippers didn't make a basket in the fourth quarter until Al Thornton scored on a transition layup with 6 minutes, 26 seconds left in the game. They went nearly seven total minutes without making a field goal.

"It was a letdown and then they just kicked our butts," Dunleavy said.

Millsap did much of the kicking, scoring 14 of his points and grabbing five of his rebounds in the final period. He showed off some versatility, making jumpers, driving to the basket, and of course, scoring on putbacks.

"He scores in bunches," said Jazz guard Deron Williams, who had 21 points and nine assists. "He did that at the right time tonight. I told him to go at [Clippers center Chris Kaman]. He has no business guarding him."

It was the first dividend returned on the investment the Jazz made in Millsap during the offseason. Millsap, who was a restricted free agent, signed a four-year, $32 million contract with Portland but stayed with Utah when the Jazz matched the deal. Millsap struggled in Utah's opener against Denver on Wednesday, scoring just 10 points.

The Clippers, after shooting 49 percent from the field in the first three quarters, made just three field goals in the fourth quarter, shooting a miserable 27 percent.

Sloan said Los Angeles' early success had a lot to with poor shot selection from his team on the offensive end.

"We were taking tough shots," Sloan said. "Every tough shot led to an easy basket for them. They out-executed us in the first half. They had too many layups in the first quarter. That's way too many. That's what bad shots get you."

Utah's execution on offense did wonders for its defense in the game's decisive stretch late in the third quarter and for most of the fourth. The Jazz went on a 15-0 run, and the made baskets allowed them to set their defense and make the Clippers work for their points.

"They have to go 94 feet instead of 60 feet -- that's a big difference, especially if you're trying to conserve energy and trying to be able to play defense," Sloan said.

The Jazz played without center Mehmet Okur, who suffered a mild left ankle sprain and a left knee sprain in the first minute of Utah's season-opening loss to the Nuggets on Wednesday. The Jazz dressed 10 players and five of them were guards.

Utah improved to 35-1 all-time against the Clippers in EnergySolutions Arena, the team's home building since it was erected in 1991, and that was formerly known as the Delta Center. Los Angeles had a golden opportunity to at least put a break in the futility against the Jazz, leading by six points in the third quarter against a short-handed team but it wasn't to be.

"That's just one of those things," Sloan said of Utah's dominance over the Clippers at home. "They've been unfortunate. Their teams haven't been good. I think they have a good team. They get their best player [Blake Griffin] hurt. He's a first-round draft choice. Mentally, that's tough on everybody."

Millsap had no explanation for why the Jazz almost always beat the Clippers at home.

"It happens," he said. "Every team's got their team [it struggles against on the road]. I think our team is the Spurs. We haven't gotten a win there in a while. Theirs is us. Who knows."