NBA Match Preview: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Utah Jazz
Date: November 6, 2010
Timings: 9:00 PM ET
Venue: Energy Solutions Arena, Salt Lake City
The Back Story:
The Clippers’ performances in the past few matches remained very poor and they dropped to 1-5 after being beaten by the Denver Nuggets. They ended up losing a game they could have easily won. The Clippers have not beaten Utah Jazz
on the road since early 2003. In more than 20 years, the Clippers have won only once in Utah. On the other hand, they have lost 40 times. The Clippers had a season-low 10 turnovers against the Nuggets. This is the first time this season that the Clippers have
faced a team with a losing record as Utah Jazz have opened the season 2-3. The Clippers last defeated the Utah Jazz 96-89 on Jan. 22, 2003.
Fantasy Spotlight
Deron Williams, nicknamed D-Will, of Utah Jazz should bounce back against the Clippers, considering his spate of good performances against them. He has put up double digits in assists in three straight contests. He is averaging
10.6 over his last eight games against them.
Jazz big-man Al Jefferson had 16 points and a season-high 15 rebounds in the previous match for his second double-double this season. While with Boston and Minnesota, Jefferson recorded eight double-doubles in 13 career-starts
versus Los Angeles. Therefore, it is clear that he has good experience and seems to be in full form.
Clipper’s Blake Griffin hit 11-of-18 shots and amazing 4-of-4 free throws on his way to a career high of 26 points and 10 rebounds in his previous match.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Clippers will be without Baron Davis and Randy Foye again, but the way that rookie Eric Bledsoe has been playing, that may not be a bad thing. Despite missing their top two point-guards, Clippers had a season-low 10 turnovers
against the Nuggets.
The Utah Jazz, already missing Mehmet Okur, are also short of their forward Jeremy Evans, who has a sprained right wrist. The absence of both players is a reason of concern for Jazz.
A Ray of Hope
The Jazz will look for their 15th consecutive home victory against the Clippers.
The Clippers are hoping to avoid starting 0-3 on the road for the first time since 2006-07 after falling 104-111 to the Denver Nuggets.
Quotable Quotes
Following the 85-78 loss to Golden State, Utah coach Jerry Sloan said that turnovers were an issue the entire game. “We just didn't seem to have the energy to compete with them. When you give up 21 turnovers for 27 points, that’s
almost a goodbye kiss.”
After falling 111-104 to Denver, Clippers coach Vincent Joseph "Vinny" Del Negro knows his team needs to come out with a better effort on defense to be competitive. "We can't give up 111 points and think we are going to beat a
lot of teams," he said. "We have to do a better job defending and controlling the tempo a little better."
Scoring Capacity
Utah has scored more than 100 points in 14 of their previous 17 games against Los Angeles Clippers, taking 13 of them.
The Jazz had averaged 104.2 points in 2009-10 and they were fourth best in the league. However, the thing that cannot be overlooked is that they have struggled to score consistently so far, averaging 86.7 points in their losses
compared to 122.5 in the wins.
Prediction
We cannot make any conclusions till the time comes, so let the basketball court of the Energy Solutions Arena decide, because of the fact that the ball will be in the court of whichever team plays the game with more intensity.
May the best team win!
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