Clippers-Jazz Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Jan 16 2012 10:10PM

The Los Angeles Clippers won without Chris Paul at the beginning of a back-to-back-to-back stretch, and coach Vinny Del Negro has said he won't rush his superstar point guard back during the busy week.

The Clippers could have trouble ending their misery in Salt Lake City whether he plays or not.

Paul is questionable as Los Angeles tries to avoid a 16th consecutive road loss to the Utah Jazz while going for its fourth straight victory overall Tuesday night.

Monday began a stretch of five games in seven days for Los Angeles (7-3), which plays the only road game during that stretch Tuesday. The week didn't begin with good news when the team announced Paul is day to day after straining his left hamstring in the fourth quarter of Saturday's win over the Lakers.

Paul, who is averaging 18.0 points and 8.4 assists, had an MRI on Sunday. Despite it being negative, he sat out Monday's 101-91 win over New Jersey.

Del Negro said the Clippers won't hurry Paul back, which could hurt his team's chances of ending a lengthy losing streak in Salt Lake City. They have just one victory in the last 42 meetings there, losing 15 in a row since a 96-89 victory in 2003.

Los Angeles survived just fine without Paul on Monday, however. Chauncey Billups shifted to point guard in Paul's absence despite dealing with back tightness and finished with 20 points.

Nine of those came in the final 4:23 after the Clippers blew an 18-point lead.

"We did a good job of pulling it out," said Blake Griffin, who had game highs of 23 points and 14 rebounds. "I mean, we shouldn't have let it get to that point in the first place. We'd much rather have kept that lead and rested a little bit, but we did a good job of grinding and getting it done when we needed to.

"A win's a win, and we'll take it any way we can get it."

Before Paul's injury the Clippers were already shorthanded in the backcourt. Mo Williams missed the last two games with a sore right foot and Eric Bledsoe is still recovering from offseason surgery on his right knee.

Del Negro said the team will have to dig deep against the Jazz, who have won seven of eight.

"We're going to have to find a way to get our energy up," Del Negro said. "Utah is playing well and we're going to have to go in there very focused and ready to go to work."

The Jazz (8-4) are coming off perhaps their best victory so far Sunday in Denver. They won 106-96, getting a combined 44 points and 24 boards from Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson.

Millsap scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter.

"Yeah, he got it going," Denver forward Al Harrington said. "Nothing I could do about it, either. Usually I can cut a guy's wood off. He's a good player and he had a great fourth quarter, so tip my hat off to him. Good job."

Utah, which is averaging 94.7 points, has reached 106 in three of the last four games. Millsap is averaging 23.0 points while shooting 62.1 percent in the last four and has consecutive double-doubles.

The Jazz have won four straight against the Clippers and 10 of 11 overall, sweeping last season's three games despite Griffin averaging 27.0 points and 14.3 rebounds.

Millsap, Miles fuel Jazz rout of Clippers 108-79

By LYNN DeBRUIN
Posted Jan 18 2012 1:24AM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Los Angeles Clippers call their high-flying style Lob City.

The Utah Jazz did a pretty good impersonation in Tuesday night's 108-79 blowout win.

"Not to toot our own horn, but I think we took that title," said Jazz forward Paul Millsap, who scored a team-high 20 points.

The Jazz held a 56-36 advantage on points in the paint, 16 off dunks - five of which were alley-oops.

Millsap picked up where he left off Sunday when he scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter in a win over Denver. He started 4 of 4 against the Clippers as the Jazz jumped out to a 13-2 lead.

"Offensively, everything was clicking and the ball was moving," said Jazz point guard Devin Harris, who had 13 points. "Defensively, we picked it up and built on leads when we had the chance.

"We are tougher to guard when you have four of five guys out there who can score and do different things. We don't just have one or two guys that others can focus on."

Millsap had primary duties defending Blake Griffin, and held him to 10 points, including eight in the first half.

"He usually has slower guys on him, but Paul is more mobile and I think he kind of took some of the advantages he has away," Jazz swingman C.J. Miles said of Millsap. "(Griffin) is a great player and makes some tough shots but having to guard Paul made a big difference, too."

Griffin said the Clippers, who were without star guard Chris Paul for the second straight game because of a hamstring injury, never found their rhythm.

"From beginning to end, we just didn't have the energy," Griffin said. "It was ugly. At the same time, they did the things they wanted to do."

Miles provided a big spark.

After being far down the Jazz bench early in the season, the sixth-year pro has found a niche with Utah's uptempo second unit.

He scored a season-high 19 points Tuesday, including a key 3-pointer, with four steals and five rebounds.

"I had to keep being aggressive," Miles said of developing his role. "Staying in the gym, I knew the funk was going to eventually come out."

He said the way the second unit is built, with speedy Earl Watson coming off the bench, helps.

"It helps me a lot ... being able to run, get up and down the floor," Miles said. "The first group is more post-oriented and sometimes you just fall into that trap of just watching those guys because they're so good down there."

Caron Butler led the Clippers with 14 points, while Chauncey Billups had 10 on 3-of-12 shooting.

The biggest number may be 16 - as in 16 straight wins at home against the Clippers.

Los Angeles hasn't won in Salt Lake City since 2003 and has now lost 43 of their last 45 in Utah

"That's amazing," Millsap said of Utah's home-court edge against the Clippers.

He was more concerned about keeping the momentum in general going.

The Jazz have won eight of their last nine to give them the second-best record in the Western Conference at 9-4. Their only loss in that span has been in overtime at home against the Lakers.

"It was fun, which is the way it should be, when we execute our defense," Miles said. "Offense is going to come. Defensively we got to do that every night."

Utah led 52-41 at halftime.

In the third, the Clippers cut the gap to 57-49 on Griffin's putback slam, but Millsap and Al Jefferson bumped it back to 12 on back-to-back buckets.

Three-pointers by Harris and Miles bumped Utah's lead to 71-55 with 2:48 left in the third.

Utah led by as many as 34 points, which allowed Jazz starters to get some rest, with defending NBA champion Dallas up next Thursday.

Rookies Alec Burks added 11 points and six rebounds, and Enes Kanter had 10 points and five rebounds for Utah. However, it was second-year pro Jeremy Evans who brought the crowd to its feet, with four dunks - three on alley-oops.

This is a guy who, curious to see if he could duplicate Griffin's All-Star feat of jumping over a Kia, tried jumping over his 2011 Camaro this summer.

"My goal was to land on the other side instead of on the hood. I didn't touch it," Evans said before the game.

Afterwards, he was all smiles.

"It's real fun when you're getting alley-oops and dunks and the crowd is into it. That's all you can ask for," said Evans, who finished with nine points.

NOTES: Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said Paul is feeling better but he wanted to be smart about the injury and wouldn't rush his superstar point guard back. ... Jazz F Derrick Favors and swingman Josh Howard were held out because of injury. ... Griffin had two dunks, which gives him 30 on the year and ties him with Washington's JaVale McGee for the NBA lead. ... Butler appeared in his 600th career game Tuesday.

Notebook: Jazz 108, Clippers 79

By Andrew Aragon, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday January 18, 2012 12:40AM

THE FACTS: The Utah Jazz weren't supposed to be the fast-breaking, show-stopping team in their matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers.

But it was the Jazz, and especially second-year player Jeremy Evans, who supplied the highlight-reel dunks and fast-break points in a high-flying and one-sided 108-79 victory over the Clippers on Tuesday night. Paul Millsap led Utah with 20 points and six rebounds and Al Jefferson had 10 points and 13 boards. Evans had four dunks.

Los Angeles, playing without Chris Paul and Mo Williams, got 14 points from Caron Butler in the second game of a back-to-back-to-back stretch. Blake Griffin had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

QUOTABLE: "I enjoyed watching the guys have fun doing what they do. They really work together and they deserve to have success."
-- Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin on his team's Showtime-like performance against the Clippers on Tuesday night.

THE STAT: Two stats stand out in Utah's dominating performance. The Jazz outscored the Clippers in the paint, 56-34. They also had an enormous advantage in fast-break points at 27-8.

TURNING POINT: It seems ludicrous to say that an NBA game was decided in the first few minutes, but this one felt that way. The Clippers, on their way to their lowest scoring output of the season, missed seven of their first eight shots. The misfires allowed the Jazz to race out to a 13-2 lead with Millsap supplying six of the points. Los Angeles never fully recovered, as it was only able to get within five points in the first quarter and eight in the third quarter.

HOT: Perhaps inspired by their opponent, Utah backups Earl Watson and Evans teamed up to form "Salt Lob City." They combined for two breathtaking alley-oops in the Utah win. The Jazz had a total of eight dunks.

NOT: After Butler hit a fadeaway jumper with 1:43 left in the second quarter, the Clippers went almost a full four minutes of game time without scoring. They closed the first half my missing three straight shots and committing a turnover. They didn't score in the third quarter until Randy Foye made a layup with 9:48 left in the period. The Jazz weren't much better during a dreadful stretch of basketball, as a 3-pointer by Raja Bell was the only basket made in nearly four minutes.

QUOTABLE II: "I think you've got some pride in here. We knew there was a better quality of ball for us to be had, but we just couldn't get it to translate to games. We just kept (plugging) away until we could take it from the practice court to the game."
--Jazz guard Bell on Utah going 9-2 in its last 11 games after starting 0-2.

GOOD MOVE: It helped that Paul didn't play, but the Jazz's gameplan on defense was almost flawless. They clogged the middle, pushed the action to the outside and kept the Clippers' tremendous athletes from getting momentum-changing lobs and dunks. Utah was aggressive, as its on-ball defenders did a great job of fronting and its bigs were helpful in playing up on pick-and-roll plays.

FANTASY WATCH: Utah's C.J. Miles is starting to show some life and could be a viable pickup in deeper formats. His 19 points were a season high. He also tied a career high with four steals and had five rebounds. Two of his last three games have been solid as he had 17 points against the Nets on Saturday. His playing time is inconsistent, making him a risky play, but he could be a decent fill-in.

ROOKIE WATCH: Courtney Fortson, called up from the NBA D-League's Los Angeles D-Fenders on Sunday, made his second appearance for the Clippers. He did fairly well considering his inexperience, finishing with 13 points, four rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes. Utah's Enes Kanter and Alec Burks got extended playing time in the blowout victory. Kanter had a career-high 10 points and five rebounds. Burks had 11 points and six rebounds.

NOTABLE: The Clippers haven't won in Utah since 2003, a streak of 16 games. They are 2-43 in their last 45 games in Utah. Butler played in his 600th game. The Jazz's bench, despite being without key reserves Josh Howard and Derrick Favors, outscored the Clippers' reserves 54-32.

UP NEXT: For the Clippers, Wednesday vs. Mavericks, Friday vs. Timberwolves, Sunday vs. Raptors. For the Jazz, Thursday vs. Mavericks, Saturday vs. Timberwolves, Wednesday vs. Raptors.

• Clippers: Bledsoe, Cook
• Jazz: --

• Clippers: --
• Jazz: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
• Officials: #36 David Jones, #7 Kevin Fehr, #61 Courtney Kirkland
• Attendance: 19371
• Duration: 2:09