Los Angeles Clippers vs Utah Jazz Box Score on Jan 01, 2021

Mike Conley scored 33 points and hit a career-high-tying seven 3-pointers to lift the Utah Jazz to a 106-100 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night in Salt Lake City.

On a night when Jazz leading scorer Donovan Mitchell had a quiet outing with just 15 points, Conley picked up the slack for Utah with his first 30-point game since March 2019. Conley scored seven of the Jazz's last nine points, hitting a shot-clock-beating 3-pointer and sinking four free throws in the final 1:48.

It was a much-needed win for the Jazz, who had lost their prior two home games this season, including a blowout defeat against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday.

Paul George scored 25 points to lead the Clippers, who had won four of their previous five games. Kawhi Leonard, sporting a mask for his injured mouth, contributed 20 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists.

George refused to let the Jazz cruise to a win down the stretch, draining three 3-pointers in the final 3 1/2 minutes to keep Los Angeles within striking distance.

The Jazz led by as many as 20 points, but the back-and-forth game got exciting after the Clippers' Nicolas Batum sank three consecutive free throws and George hit a 3-pointer to cut Utah's lead to 95-94 with 3:15 to play.

Rudy Gobert, who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, put Utah up 102-94 with an inside hoop, giving the Jazz enough cushion to hand the Clippers their sixth straight loss in Salt Lake City.

Utah used an 18-2 run to take a 31-17 lead late in the first quarter, and then Jordan Clarkson and Conley opened the second with treys for a 37-19 advantage.

The Clippers surged to pull within 43-42, but the Jazz finished the second quarter strong with an 8-0 run, then kept that momentum going after the break. Mitchell, Conley and Royce O'Neale hit 3-pointers early in the third as Utah boosted its lead to 60-42 as Utah scored 17 consecutive points spanning the break.

--Field Level Media