LOS ANGELES – LA Clippers defeated Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on Friday, and the schedule could not have been better.
The growing Utah Jazz, winners of 20 of the previous 21 games, including an 18-point victory over the Clippers on Wednesday, returned to Staples Center for a second straight game. And the Clippers wanted to show where they opposed the top team in the Western rankings.
Leonard scored 29 points and came up with two great offensive rebounds in the last minute to help the Clippers retain the Jazz, 116-112, and take away from Utah’s nine-game winning streak.
“I’m the best team in the NBA right now, in terms of record,” said Clippers coach Ty Lue. “We knew they won 20 out of 21 coming tonight. We recovered our boys and we wanted to win this game.”
The Clippers (22-9) regained their two stars on the field after George missed the previous seven games due to a swollen right toe and Leonard sat on the previous three due to a contusion of his lower left foot. . Clippers’ starting lineup was complete again, and striker Nicolas Batum returned after missing the previous two games due to a concussion.
“I’m just happy to be able to go out and play today,” said Leonard, who wore a sleeve on his lower left leg. “We managed to be healthy and get five initials there, and that’s about it. We want to improve. We have no chance to play with a complete and healthy list in the last two weeks. So we hope we can have some blessings and we will be able to stay healthy to finish up to the All-Star [break] it is beginning. “
The Jazz (24-6) also had goalkeeper Mike Conley (right hamstring) back in line for this showdown between two of the best teams in the West. Conley scored 16 points, but Donovan Mitchell was almost the one who kept jazz alive. Mitchell scored 35 points, 29 in the second half. The goalie scored 12 points in the end 1:23, when he helped Utah reduce a deficit of 13 points late to two, with 13 seconds left.
Jazz center Rudy Gobert said the game “felt like a playoff game – the intensity, the hard blows they made all night.”
For Utah, this was a rare tight game. During their 20-1 period, Jazz recorded only seven minutes during the clutch, when the score is five points in the last five minutes. This is the least in the NBA during this period.
“There are so many different things I’ve seen along this stretch,” Mitchell said. “We are not here to be happy with what is happening today, tomorrow. We are preparing for the long distance – the second half of the season and the playoffs. We must continue to be this team and not just be this team in the first half of the season. “
Like the Jazz, who brought a 3-1 win over the Denver Nuggets in the first round of last season’s playoffs, the Clippers are also struggling to be better than they were in the previous postseason. They threw a 3-1 series lead to the Nuggets in the second round.
The Clippers will need a healthy Leonard and George to move on this season. George said he played with one toe and managed to manage it with a day off between games until he played in a back game against Brooklyn and Cleveland. George then experienced swelling and had to be stopped until the swelling and pain subsided.
“I played in Brooklyn and then in Cleveland, two tough games that made me have to dig and push, plant and play on my toes,” said George, who had 15 points, six rebounds. and five assists in 27 minutes. “It’s just that my back to back kind of hit me on board and I couldn’t recover, I needed some free time because it was swollen. I just tried to keep him moving for the team and he ended up slipping on me. “
“I feel good,” George added about how his toe felt when he left the game. “Just get back on the cradle of things.”
The same could be said for the Clippers, who were happy to regain their healthy stars against the hot Jazz.
“We are basketball fans at the end of the day and, of course, you see the noise that is made throughout the season,” Clippers goalkeeper Patrick Beverley said of the Jazz’s 20-1 spread. “In fact, I wanted the one I gave up, I kind of ran out of gas towards the end [on Wednesday]. You have to give credit to Utah. They got a damn system, hella players, coaches.
“It was a tough game and this is the kind of game you want in the NBA and we are lucky to definitely get a win.”