On a three-game losing streak to match a season high, the Los Angeles Clippers will seek to improve on controlling the pace when the Utah Jazz arrive for a matchup Saturday night at Inglewood, Calif.
The teams will meet one week after completing a trade in which the Clippers acquired Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills, while the Jazz received Mo Bamba and P.J. Tucker. Bamba has since been waived, and Tucker subsequently was traded twice more.
While the Clippers’ three-game skid is troubling, the most recent two defeats are especially concerning after the team was overwhelmed by opponents in decisive stretches.
The Clippers were blitzed from the jump in a 122-97 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, then couldn’t avoid an avalanche in the second quarter and the closing minutes of a 119-112 setback to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday.
The Clippers are 2-4 in home games going back to Jan. 20 after they had won six consecutive games in their new arena, starting with a 144-107 victory over the Jazz on Dec. 16. Los Angeles is 2-0 against Utah this season, with both games in Inglewood.
The Clippers had everything going their way Thursday with a 22-point lead against the Pacers early in the second quarter. But with one minute remaining before halftime, the Pacers had taken the lead.
Los Angeles not only was outscored 42-19 in the second quarter, the team committed eight turnovers while the defense saw Indiana shoot 57.7 percent from the field in the decisive 12 minutes.
“Second quarter, turnovers, you know, that kind of killed us,” Clippers center Ivica Zubac said. “They were live-ball turnovers that would lead to the layups, and that kind of killed the whole momentum, man.”
James Harden and Norman Powell each scored 22 points, while Zubac had 18 points and 15 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard scored 19 points in a season-high 33 minutes. Leonard played in his 13th game after a late start to the season because of knee soreness.
“I didn’t mind tonight’s game,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “You’re not gonna win every game, but there are some things that we can learn. Just (take) care of the basketball. We had a big lead and turn the ball over, turn the ball over, turn the ball over.”
The Jazz have gone 2-2 since an eight-game losing streak and arrive in Los Angeles following a heartbreaking 135-127 overtime defeat on the road against the Phoenix Suns on Friday. John Collins scored 21 points for Utah, while Walker Kessler had 19 points and a career-high 22 rebounds.
The Jazz led 120-116 with 4.7 seconds remaining before two Grayson Allen 3-pointers for the Suns in the closing seconds sent the game into overtime. Phoenix scored the first eight points in the extra period to secure the victory.
Utah enters on a seven-game road losing streak that includes two losses at Phoenix. The Jazz are 7-20 away from home this season.
Near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, the Jazz continue to keep things positive, especially now that the trade deadline has passed.
“I think the chemistry we have as a group has continued to grow as the year has gone on,” coach Will Hardy said. “I know when we got in the plane yesterday, everybody was having that collective sigh of relief that we can just focus on what’s next and move forward.”
–Field Level Media
