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 Clippers 6-foot point guard Chris Paul recorded a triple-double,
and Los Angeles beat the Utah Jazz 107-101 Monday night at Staples
Center.
Paul finished with 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds as the
Clippers (3-1) beat the Jazz (1-3) for the 10th time in a row. Los
Angeles forward Blake Griffin added 31 points.
Utah guard Gordon Hayward hailed Paul's rebounding.
"When he's going after rebounds like that, it's hard for our bigs to
crash," said Hayward, who finished with 27 points, seven rebounds
and five assists. "I think a lot of them were defensive. When our
bigs are crashing, they can be a load down there. He did a good job
of coming in and getting the rebounds his bigs didn't get."
Paul said he was simply assisting the Clippers' big men.
"I definitely tried to get in there and help," said Paul, who was
nursing a sprained foot sustained Sunday in the Clippers' loss to
the Sacramento Kings. "When you've got DeAndre (Jordan) and Blake, a
lot of times you just figure they'll get it, but sometimes they're
engaged with the bigs, and those guys are always yelling at us to
help and the coaches are always telling us to get in there and help.
 "Tonight there were a lot of long rebounds, so I just tried to get
in there and help."
Los Angeles guard Jamal Crawford, who missed Sunday's defeat due to
sore ribs, scored 19 points. Crawford also passed the 15,000 mark
for career points with a fourth-quarter bucket.
Center Enes Kanter chipped in 17 points and nine rebounds, and guard
Alec Burks added 16 points.
However, 17 turnovers -- the Clippers committed 10 -- hurt Utah.
"Too many breakdowns by us, especially in the first half," said
Hayward, who made 10 of 19 shots from the field, including five of
12 3-point attempts. "We cleaned that up in the third. I thought we
competed really well. We played super hard. Just little things that
come back to bite you. Tough feeling because we felt like there were
times we could win this game."
As they did in their previous three games, the Clippers started
well, building a double-digit lead, before blowing it.
Los Angeles led 56-43 at the half, shooing 55 percent (22 of 40)
from the floor compared to 44.7 percent (17 of 38) for the Jazz. The
Clippers also connected on eight of 15 (53.3 percent) from behind
the 3-point arc to three of 12 (25 percent) for Utah.
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In the third, the Clippers led 62-49 after a dunk by Jordan. The
Jazz answered with a 13-0 run, punctuated by a 3-pointer from
Hayward and Kanter's free throw after a foul by Jordan on the same
play, tying the score at 62 with 4:34 remaining in the quarter. A 3-pointer by reserve guard Reggie Bullock, who finished with 12
points, all via treys, gave the Clippers a 73-70 advantage heading
into the fourth quarter.
Utah stayed within striking distance in the fourth, but Los Angeles
started pulling away midway through the quarter with Griffin and
Crawford leading the way. The Jazz closed within three after a
three-point play by guard Trey Burke with 15.5 seconds remaining,
but a free throw by guard J.J. Redick, a Jazz turnover and a Paul
layup clinched it for the Clippers.
For the game, Los Angeles shot 41 of 81 (50.6 percent), and Utah hit
36 of 77 (46.8 percent).
"As a team, we played pretty well," said Burke, who managed just six
points and four assists. "We knew it was going to be a hard-fought
game. With them coming off a loss yesterday, you knew that they were
going to try to come out and put it to us. As a team, we fought for
48 minutes but just came up short down the stretch."
NOTES: Jazz coach Quin Snyder is encouraged by the progress being
made by reserve G Dante Exum, the No. 5 pick of the 2014 draft.
"I've got confidence in him, but I just think his development, like
any young guy, is going to be up and down. But I have no doubt it's
tracking in the right direction," Snyder said. ... Clippers G Chris
Paul is the first player to record 28 assists with one turnover in
the opening three games, according to NBA.com, which began tracking
the stat in 1977. ... Los Angeles F Glen Davis, who hasn't played
this season because of a strained right groin, could return
Wednesday in Oakland, Calif., against the Golden State Warriors. ...
The Jazz host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
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