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Quin Snyder is considered one of the NBA's brightest minds, but the Jazz coach thinks there's someone else in this series who has been just as good in the back-and-forth chess match that is playoff basketball.

That would be Clippers point guard Chris Paul.

"I think no matter what you do, he figures it out," Snyder said this week. "He's probably as good as any coach in the league as far as his ability to make adjustments — and he doesn't have to wait until timeouts to do it."

Paul may make a great coach someday.

Right now, however, the guard would prefer to be on the court.

Even without his All-Star running mate Blake Griffin by his side, the point guard has willed his team to victories in this first-round series. That's just one of the reasons Snyder already considers Paul "an all-time great."

Clippers coach Doc Rivers chuckled when asked before Tuesday's Game 5 if Paul needed to do more to help his team win this series.

"I don't know if he can do much more," Rivers replied. "He's only done everything."

Paul had averaged 27 points and 10.4 assists through the first five games of the series, coming alive in the second half of games to will his team to its first two wins of the series.

When the Jazz have managed some success defending Paul this series, changing up its pick-and-roll coverage and having Utah's big man push up higher on the court to force the ball out of Paul's hands, the point guard has found ways to respond.

"The thing about him is no matter what you do, he knows what to do," Snyder said. "His mind is churning all the time."

Austin limits

Clippers guard Austin Rivers started Game 6, though his minutes were limited again Friday night, just his second game back after nearly a monthlong layoff due to a hamstring strain.

But he would "probably not" have played at all if this were the regular season and not the playoffs.

"Probably it would be close," coach Rivers said. "I would say probably not. But it is, and we don't have a lot of choices."

Loud and proud

Doc Rivers always is complimentary of the crowds in Salt Lake City — and it was another packed house at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Friday — but the veteran coach and former player has his doubts about how much they could impact a game.

"I never know how much crowd noise is a factor," he said, his voice raspy. "They are great here. I think the fans here are terrific. They make a lot of noise. Some players actually like playing in it, some don't. … From a coaching standpoint, it does nothing. It just makes talk like I'm talking right now."

afalk@sltrib.com Twitter: @aaronfalk