The Los Angeles Clippers let one slip

Take note, the Jazz aren’t just “happy to be here”.

After leaving Game 1 of the NBA Postseason first-round series between the Clippers and Jazz with a knee sprain, Utah center Rudy Gobert might be done for the series.

With him sidelined, the Clippers shortened their bench rotation and won all seven of their final games.

Joe Johnson: Well, it sure seems like the former all-star shooting guard is the best option the Jazz have at power forward at this point.

“I was just being patient”, Johnson said afterwards.

Rivers was a huge part of the Clippers success against Utah in the regular season. Joe Johnson worked Crawford into the paint and finished it with the game victor. You’re on an island by yourself and they expect [the defender] to get that stop. “That happens. You get so locked into your individual matchup that you start playing individual “D” where you’re supposed to be in a help position”. Jordan only had 10 points but he gathered 15 boards.

“We’re picking who we’re going off, choosing between Jamal or Mbah a Moute”, Ingles said. “Joe [Johnson] has been tremenouds”. We have a few different coverages to go into.

The team says he will continue to be re-evaluated.

11 seconds into the game was all it took for defensive star Rudy Gobert to fall to his knees with an apparent leg injury. The big question is: Can the Jazz and that top-level defense slow down LA enough to even make this a series? “It sucks that we lost, and to tell you the truth, we’ve sucked pretty bad here at home in the playoffs anyway, know what I mean?” There’s something to be said for calling time-out and there’s something to be said for not calling the time-out. We’ve got to forget about previous year whether we won or lost.

Hopefully Gobert can make it back before the end of the series.

On paper, the Clippers hold two major positional match-ups that could still decide this series: Chris Paul over George Hill and Blake Griffin over a cast of Jazz forwards.

Portland coach Terry Stotts can look to last year’s playoffs for some guidance, though he said Golden State’s defense is far better now. But losing to a Utah team without Gobert is an indictment on many levels.

Utah outscored the Clippers 16-10 to open the third before Crawford’s jumper put Los Angeles ahead 70-68.

Thompson picked up the slack with Curry sidelined past year against Portland, leading the Warriors in scoring in three of the five games – with 37 points, 27 and 33.

Although this is Utah’s first playoff appearance since the names Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer rang through the Vivint Smart Home Arena, they are reaching sort of a crossroads with their core as well.