Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Clippers Box Score on Apr 25, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Apr 26, 2017

LOS ANGELES -- Gordon Hayward scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the Utah Jazz held off the Los Angeles Clippers 96-92 to take a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference first-round playoff series Tuesday night at Staples Center.

Rodney Hood scored 16 points, and Joe Johnson delivered nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter for the Jazz. Rudy Gobert added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who can clinch the series with a win in Game 6 on Friday in Salt Lake City.

Chris Paul scored 28 points and handed out nine assists for the Clippers, who played their second game without forward Blake Griffin, sidelined for the rest of the postseason with a plantar plate injury to his right big toe. J.J. Redick contributed 26 points, and DeAndre Jordan collected 14 points and 12 boards.

Two free throws by Paul with 36 seconds remaining pulled the Clippers within 90-87, but Johnson, who has hurt the Clippers throughout the series with clutch shooting, buried a jumper 17 seconds later for a 92-87 Utah lead.

Two more foul shots by Paul with 14.6 seconds remaining closed the gap to three again, but George Hill, who finished with 12 points and seven assists, converted a pair of free throws with 10.8 seconds left to make it 94-89.

Paul's 3-pointer cut the deficit to two with 5.1 seconds left.

Hill clinched the victory with two free throws with four seconds remaining.

Both clubs struggled offensively in the third quarter, with the Jazz outscoring the Clippers 18-15 for a 64-58 advantage heading into the final quarter. The Jazz managed to hit only 36.4 percent of their shots compared to 31.3 percent for the Clippers. During one stretch during the period, neither club managed a field goal for almost four minutes.

NOTES: The Jazz had been effective defending Clippers SG J.J. Redick, who scored in double figures (12 points) in Game 1 but had failed to do so again until Game 5. "I think the length of them has bothered him," Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers said. "They do a great job of taking his right hand away. Everyone knows he wants to come off to his right to shoot. I think (Joe) Ingles and (Rodney) Hood have been fantastic in their scouting report prep. They've been terrific." Jazz coach Quin Snyder wouldn't take credit for Utah's success against Redick, calling it a "little bit of luck." ... Game 7 (if necessary) would be played Sunday at Staples Center.