This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Los Angeles •Quin Snyder knocked on a table before tipoff Tuesday night, hoping to stave off a jinx.
"Some of it — knock on wood — is a little bit of luck," the Utah Jazz coach said. "You just work and chase him and try to contest. But I anticipate and have anticipated him hitting contested shots because he can do that."
Snyder's premonition finally came true in Game 5: Clippers shooting guard J.J. Redick finally broke out.
It wouldn't cost the Jazz in the end, but Redick erupted for 26 points on 7-of-12 shooting Tuesday after struggling through the first four games of the series.
Redick had averaged 7.75 points over the first four games of the series, a seven-point dip in production from his regular-season numbers.
"J.J.'s going to get it going at some point," Clippers coach Doc Rivers predicted before the game.
The Jazz will get back to trying to make life difficult for Redick when Game 6 begins Friday in Salt Lake. They certainly had done a good job of it until Tuesday night.
"They have great size. I think their length has bothered," Rivers said. "They do a great job of taking his right hand away. He wants to come off to his right to shoot. I think [Joe] Ingles and [Rodney] Hood have been fantastic in their scouting report prep."
No guarantees
After the Clippers' loss Tuesday night, a reporter asked Chris Paul if the team "would be back here Sunday playing a Game 7." Paul, however, wasn't going to be bated into outright guaranteeing a Clippers victory in Game 6.
"What you think? I'm on the team," he said. "What you want me to say, 'No, it's over'? That's what you want to hear? Yes. Come on, man."
Asked to expand upon his answer, Paul declined amid some awkward chuckles from the media.
"No, I don't know," he said. "Everybody in here laughing for a reason."
Even Steven
How close has this four-versus-five matchup been?
The Jazz and Clippers both have scored 495 points through the first five games.
Twitter: @aaronfalk