NBA Playoffs: The Clippers win big in Game 4 to tie their series against the top-seeded Jazz
Los Angeles, California – The Los Angeles Clippers meant business in Game 4, beating the Utah Jazz to even the Western Conference semifinals at two games apiece.
Kawhi Leonard (29) and Paul George had big games as the Clippers got a big 118-104 win over the Jazz on Monday night. The Clippers have now won both of their home games, knotting the series up at 2-2 against the NBA’s best team.
Both Leonard and George put up matching nights on the scoreboard with 31 points each, while Marcus Morris, Sr. also added 24 in LA’s win. The game was pretty much theirs to lose as they built a lead quite quickly from the opening seconds of the game. Utah only led once, at 2-0 within the first minute of the game before the Clippers began shutting down the Jazz, forcing six first-quarter turnovers and holding them to just 13 total points.
From that point on, the Clippers never looked back, always keeping the Jazz just far enough off the roll away with the win.
Things got significantly easier once they were able to neutralize Utah’s big man and Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert, who found himself in early foul trouble. Donovan Mitchell did play well, scoring a game-high 37 points, but without the customary domination from Gobert, the Jazz couldn’t keep up as LA was sitting pretty at home.
"We’re trying to be aggressive as well as being aggressive for others. It's a healthy mix to be able to do both," said Clippers forward Paul George, in his postgame comments to ESPN.
The Clippers shouldn’t be counted out just yet
The Clippers now head back to Salt Lake City only needing to win two out of three games to upset the top-seeded Jazz and move on to the conference finals. They have one of the best playoff performers in Kawhi Leonard, who has won two rings himself, also being named NBA Finals MVP each time. With Paul George, they’ve shown that they too can score enough to keep up with the Jazz and, at the very least, make this a very tough series for Utah.
The pivotal game five is on Wednesday night, in Salt Lake City.
Cover photo: IMAGO / Icon SMI