The Utah Jazz have successfully defended their home court in the Western Conference semifinals as they took care of the Los Angeles Clippers in crunch time to win Game 2 of their best-of-seven series.
Sadly, they were no match for Donovan Mitchell, who followed up his 45-point Game 1 masterpiece with a 37-point gem in Game 2.
They’ll have to be even better to beat this stellar Jazz team, but if the Dallas series proved anything, it was that they’re resilient enough for the job.
As I referenced after Game 1, Donovan Mitchell destroyed the Clippers by switch-hunting their worst defenders in pick-and-roll.
The Clippers had largely been playing small since the Dallas series in an effort to both maximize their spacing and increase switchability on defense, but after their Game 1 struggles, they went back to a big lineup with Ivica Zubac at center.
All the Clippers can do at this point is pick a path and hope that either Mitchell misses, or that they can force him to pass and his teammates do.
Then, when they start the next game with the zone as their base, the opposing team destroys it because they got a chance to look at it on film and dissect its weaknesses.
They trailed by as many as 21 points in the third quarter, but the zone helped them fight their way back into the game.
When you factor in all of the pick-and-roll coverages the Clippers tried, it’s worth wondering just what adjustments Ty Lue even has left to try.
Reggie Jackson and Paul George were far more aggressive attacking the basket, and the Clippers won those minutes by eight points.
Gobert’s presence scares the Clippers out of driving, which makes it far easier for Utah’s perimeter defenders to stick with their shooters.
Either way, if the Clippers start shooting as well as they can, Utah is going to have to figure out some way to defend the basket when Gobert is out of the game.