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Los Angeles • Before tipoff Friday night, Clippers coach Doc Rivers was asked for his opinion of Jazz rookie Dante Exum.

The point guard had struggled in the teams' meeting earlier in the week. His inexperience showed when he was tricked into committing a couple cheap fouls. His lack of strength proved a problem when the Clippers bullied him around, forcing him to commit eight turnovers.

Still, Rivers came away impressed with Exum.

"I like him a lot. I was just talking about him," Rivers said. "I think he's going to be really good. I just think he's so darn long. How old is he, by the way?"

"Nineteen," a reporter informed him.

And Rivers shook his head in disbelief.

"Jesus," he said. "He could grow two more inches. But he's a better shooter already than I thought he was. With his ability to handle the ball, he could be a giant point. He's gonna be great, I think."

Exum's basketball career may be in its infancy, but already the Australian point guard is making a name for himself around the NBA. On Friday night, in an uncharacteristically intense 101-97 preseason defeat for the Jazz, Gordon Hayward (22 points, six rebounds), Derrick Favors (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Trey Burke (21 points, six assists) carried the load against L.A.

But the rookie point guard showed flashes of why Rivers and others are high on him.

Exum himself admitted he had "rough" outing on Monday against the Clippers. But the rookie bounced back Thursday night against the Lakers. He scored 13 points, dished six assists and didn't turn the ball over in what his coach called his best game yet.

"One thing about Dante, he's a quick study," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "That's the biggest thing for me with him. There are growing pains, but hopefully he can learn quickly."

One of those early lessons was about taking care of the ball. At 6-6 and 190 pounds, Exum will still need to add strength to his size. In the meantime, his coaches want the point guard to learn to compensate.

"He's cut so high and that's why he's so fast," Snyder said. "But his build, because he's so lean and long, sometimes shorter, stronger players can kind of get into him."

That's exactly what Chris Paul and the Clippers did on Monday. Afterward, Exum said he learned a thing or two in his first matchup with the Clippers All-Star and wanted a chance at redemption Friday. The teenager from Australia scored nine points, grabbed a rebound and dished two assists in 17 minutes of action.

Exum showed off his shot, hitting a 3-pointer over the outstretched arms of 7-foot-1 Spencer Hawes. Later, he froze defenders on the dribble, drove into the lane and finished despite a hard collision.

"I think there's a real will there and a pride," Snyder said. "But there's also a gap between where he is and where he wants to be, where we want him to be."

If the rookie can get there eventually, he'll have even more coaches shaking their heads. —

Storylines

O Jazz forward Trevor Booker is hit with a flagrant foul after stopping Blake Griffin from completing a third-quarter dunk. Booker and Griffin had to be separated after the foul. Booker, Griffin and Clippers guard Chris Paul were each charged with technical fouls for the scuffle.

• Booker later is diagnosed with a sprained ankle and did not play in the fourth quarter. —

Clippers 101, Jazz 97

FG FT Reb

Utah Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Hood 10:59 1-1 0-0 0-3 1 6 2

Favors 31:45 9-17 1-2 2-10 1 3 19

Kanter 22:20 2-9 3-4 0-3 0 3 7

Burke 35:45 7-15 5-9 0-5 6 0 21

Hayward 37:12 4-7 12-12 0-6 4 0 22

Clark 33:56 3-6 2-2 0-1 3 3 8

Booker 17:02 1-5 2-2 1-3 3 3 4

Exum 16:40 3-5 1-1 0-1 2 2 9

Gobert 24:43 1-2 3-4 1-7 0 2 5

Jones 9:28 0-3 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Novak 0:10 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 240:00 31-70 29-36 4-40 20 22 97

Percentages: FG .443, FT .806. 3-Point Goals: 6-18, .333 (Exum 2-3, Burke 2-4, Hayward 2-4, Jones 0-1, Booker 0-2, Clark 0-2, Kanter 0-2). Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 23 (22 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Favors 2, Gobert 2). Turnovers: 20 (Favors 5, Hayward 5, Clark 3, Gobert 3, Kanter 3, Jones). Steals: 12 (Hayward 6, Exum 2, Booker, Burke, Favors, Kanter). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 6:07 second Booker, 2:56 third Gobert, 1:36 third Gobert, 0:02.7 fourth.

Flagrant Fouls: Booker, 2:56 third.

Ejections: Gobert, 0:02 fourth.

FG FT Reb

L.A.C. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Douglas-Roberts 23:33 4-7 0-0 0-1 1 2 10

Griffin 31:27 7-14 3-9 1-4 3 5 17

Jordan 38:47 4-8 1-2 1-17 4 4 9

Paul 33:51 4-11 2-2 0-4 9 4 11

Redick 28:42 1-7 3-3 0-1 2 3 5

Barnes 18:43 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 2 0

Hawes 23:28 9-15 3-6 3-6 1 3 24

Crawford 25:21 8-13 4-5 0-1 5 0 25

Farmar 14:09 0-4 0-0 2-4 3 0 0

Udoh 2:00 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 2 0

Totals 240:01 37-83 16-27 8-39 28 25 101

Percentages: FG .446, FT .593. 3-Point Goals: 11-26, .423 (Crawford 5-7, Hawes 3-7, Douglas-Roberts 2-3, Paul 1-3, Barnes 0-1, Farmar 0-2, Redick 0-3). Team Rebounds: 14. Team Turnovers: 20 (24 PTS). Blocked Shots: 2 (Hawes, Jordan). Turnovers: 20 (Griffin 4, Jordan 3, Paul 3, Douglas-Roberts 2, Farmar 2, Hawes 2, Redick 2, Crawford, Udoh). Steals: 11 (Paul 3, Redick 2, Barnes, Crawford, Farmar, Griffin, Hawes, Jordan). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 9:31 first Defensive three second, 5:33 third Griffin, 2:56 third Paul, 2:56 third.

Utah 22 25 27 23 — 97

L.A. Clippers 21 25 29 26 — 101

Attendance • 13,714

Time • 2:36.

Officials • Ron Garretson, Brian Forte, Jeff Wooten.