As the Clippers’ next-to-last gasp to reach the postseason escaped Thursday night, the Jazz pressed a heel to their throats.
Nothing was gentle about how Utah (46-33) whipped Los Angeles, its first-round playoff foe from last spring in a 117-95 blowout. It’s precisely the kind of game the Jazz haven’t had at home in weeks: a slow, spirit-breaking exercise in domination.
It featured logic defying plays. Donovan Mitchell scooping a shot around 7-footer DeAndre Jordan and drawing the foul. Dante Exum blocking a layup from 7-foot-3 Boban Marjanovic. Even Alec Burks, who has been stranded on the bench for weeks, found some moments of brilliance — none brighter than an alley-oop that signaled the very end of a blowout.
It was the kind performance that made the 18,306-strong Vivint Smart Home Arena crowd buzz, as the Jazz took a stronger grip on fourth place in the Western Conference and inched closer to homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
“The biggest thing with us is continuing to work to improve,” said Mitchell, who scored 13 of his 19 points in a robust first quarter. “We don’t really think of it as, ‘We need this one.’ … If we just go out there and play the way we play, everything else will fall into place.”
Not everything was ideal: In the first half, Jae Crowder took an early exit after Derrick Favors accidentally hit him in the eye. Ricky Rubio, who started the game 3 for 3 for nine points, quickly followed suit after feeling soreness in his left hamstring. While coach Quin Snyder didn’t have official updates on either player after the game, neither injury appeared serious, and Crowder told The Tribune he expected to play against the Lakers on Sunday.
It didn’t matter. The Jazz outscored the Clippers in each of the first three quarters, and by double digits in both the first and third. Los Angeles — a team of mashed-together parts to cover up for injuries — was purely overwhelmed.
That was clear early, when the Jazz scored 36 points in the first quarter, a clear contrast to some of their slow starts lately. Mitchell in particular was electric, hitting a spinning stepback jumper, throwing down on a breakaway dunk, and making the and-one play that left Jordan shaking his head in futility.
But defense also was at a premium: The Clippers’ brightest stars had subpar nights. Lou Williams and Tobias Harris combined for just 8-of-24 shooting going against Utah’s wing defenders, and the team made only three 3-pointers. Jordan struggled with foul trouble, and there wasn’t much room to negotiate against Rudy Gobert, who had 15 points and three blocks.
“They just beat us,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “I mean, they beat us in every way, so give them credit.”
A lot of credit also went to the bench: Dante Exum filled in for Rubio, coming away with 10 points, five assists and a block that was sure to make “SportsCenter”. Royce O’Neale added eight points and five rebounds, in addition to suffocating defense on Williams.
On an emotional night when he learned his grandmother passed away in Sweden, Jonas Jerebko went 5 for 6 and scored 13 points filling in for Crowder. Jerebko had his grandmother’s name written on his shoes.
“I feel like the strength of this team has been the team,” Snyder said. “Guys have responded in situations like this when we’ve lost players during a game.”
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