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Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford's offensive outburst got lost in the wake of his former teammate Joe Johnson's own turn-back-the-clock performance in Sunday night's Game 4.

However, the outcome of the game could have been different if not for Crawford's foul trouble. Crawford picked up his fifth foul and went to bench with 8 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. He had 25 points on 9 for 12 shooting, including 5 for 7 on 3-pointers, in 26 minutes off the bench.

He returned to the court with more than five minutes remaining in the game, but he didn't score again. The Clippers' offense stalled down the stretch as the Jazz evened the series at 2 with a 105-98 win.

"Jamal was huge," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "The foul trouble hurt us. That was a big foul. The fifth foul when we had it going, that was huge because we had to take him off the floor. That left [Chris Paul] out there trying to create without Jamal. I thought that was a big turning point of the game."

All-Star power forward Blake Griffin's absence left a scoring void. While Crawford and Griffin attack the defense in different manners, Crawford's penchant for piling up points gave the Clippers a secondary option alongside Paul, who finished with 28 points.

Griffin will be limited to a role as a spectator for the rest of the postseason, however long that may be, which makes Crawford an incredibly important figure in the rest of the series.

"I just had to get back to being me, being aggressive," Crawford said. "I think even the shots the first three games were shots I wanted. The ball just didn't bounce my way. We were up 2-1, so I didn't care about it. I'd rather have two points and win then have 20-plus and lose."

While Crawford's scoring outbursts have become fewer and less frequent in recent seasons, the 37-year-old still has the ability to conjure up some of whatever it was that made him one of the most explosive scoring weapons in the NBA over a 17-year career. He hadn't scored more than 28 points in a game this season, but the Jazz recognize he's still dangerous with the ball.

Crawford scored 15 first-half points in just under 15 minutes Sunday night. He went 5 for 6 from the floor, including 3 for 3 on 3-pointers. He entered the night not having made a trey in the previous three games (0 for 11). Overall, he came into Sunday averaging nine points per game, down from 12.3 points per game in the regular season.

When Crawford sat with 4:45 remaining in the first half, his 15 points were one shy of DeAndre Jordan, J.J. Redick and Paul combined. He added seven in the third quarter and three in thefourth quarter.

lworthy@sltrib.com Twitter: @LWorthySports