Joe Johnson pushed the Utah Jazz past the Los Angeles Clippers with a running floater in the lane that dropped in as time expired to give Utah the win in Game 1. It was a gut-punching loss for the Clippers who were down for much of the fourth quarter but kept rallying and had tied the game just 14 seconds before. With rumors of the team being totally dismantled in the offseason, it’s starting to be do or die time for the Clip Show.
This war on the floor will go down Tuesday, April 18, 2017, at 10:30 p.m. ET at the Staples Center. The game will be televised live on TNT and ROOT. We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA playoff schedule.
Odds Analysis
Los Angeles -8, O/U 196
Utah was not a good road team on the season. The Jazz managed to go just 17-23-1 ATS away from Salt Lake City and had lost both of their previous road games to the Clippers by double digits before Saturday’s triumph. Under has now cashed in three straight road games for the Jazz as well.
The Clippers had won seven in a row and covered three in a row before the loss to the Jazz and now the doubts must be creeping back into their heads. This is a team that was expected to compete for NBA titles when Chris Paul and Blake Griffin first teamed up, but they haven’t even made it to the conference finals yet.
Key Injury
When Rudy Gobert went down with an injury in Game 1, everyone in Utah collectively held their breath. Gobert was the best defensive player in the league according to ESPN’s advanced plus-minus statistics and his ability to block shots and create havoc in the paint was crucial against a team with Paul, Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan.
The good news is that Gobert might be able to return this series. It was announced that he just hyperextended his knee and while nothing definitive has been said about his timetable for return, he could be good to go relatively quickly.
Gobert was an animal this season with 14 PPG and 12.8 RPG, but his most impressive stat was his 2.6 blocks per night. He was the most durable player on the team all season and being without him for anything more than a game or two is likely deadly for the Jazz.
Matchup to Watch
Without Gobert, Griffin and Jordan are going to get a lot of chances against the interior of Utah’s defense. Last time, the two combined for 36 points and 22 rebounds, but even more might be needed with the amount of minutes Doc Rivers is asking them to play. Griffin really hurt the team with six turnovers on the night and needs to handle the ball better.
Utah had the best defense in the league, but losing Gobert puts a real wrench in its plans. The Jazz were able to play a two center lineup with him and Diaw a lot of the time and eschew a power forward and force teams to make perimeter shots in order to beat them. Without that option, Diaw and Derrick Favors are going to have to play solid defense as the Jazz were third-to-last in the NBA in scoring in the regular season.
Free NBA ATS Picks
That was a really damaging loss for LA in Game 1. The Clippers know they need better performances from pretty much everyone this time around and that they can’t fall behind 2-0 with the venue switching to Utah afterwards.
Without Gobert, the Jazz won’t be able to stop the Clippers from scoring and LA will cruise to a Game 2 victory. The play in the paint will be too much for the Jazz to handle with Griffin and Jordan both having good nights.
NBA Odds: Clippers 104, Jazz 92
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