Jazz hit high note, move on
The young Utah Jazz have grown up quickly.
Gordon Hayward scored 26 points and the Jazz eliminated the Clippers yesterday with a 104-91 win in Los Angeles, closing out the Western Conference first-rounder 4-3 to earn the franchise’s first postseason series victory since 2010.
“We’ve been through some pretty hard downs,” said Hayward, a seventh-year veteran. “It definitely feels really good to go from 25 wins to where we were this year making the playoffs, winning a series.”
George Hill and Derrick Favors added 17 points apiece for the Jazz in what proved to be the easiest game of the back-and-forth series.
The Jazz advanced to face topseeded Golden State in the conference semifinals. The Warriors swept Portland and have been waiting since Wednesday to find out their next opponent. Game 1 is tomorrow night in Oakland, Calif.
The Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan had 24 points and 17 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the series. Jamal Crawford added 20 points off the bench.
Chris Paul had 13 points for the Clippers, who were sent packing in the first round for the second straight year. Last season, Los Angeles lost to Portland after Paul and Blake Griffin went down with injuries. This time, they didn’t have Griffin again after he was lost in Game 3 with an injured big toe.
“It came down to today to keep us afloat, keep us alive,” Paul said. “We’re done.”
The first six games between the fourth-seeded Clippers and No. 5 Utah were decided by eight points or less with Los Angeles outscoring Utah 98.8 points to 98.0 points. The teams had identical 51-31 records in the regular season.
But this one was all Utah in the second half. The Jazz opened the third on a 23-9 run, extending their lead to 69-48 — largest in the series.
The Clippers’ only lead was one point early on.
“There’s no excuses,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “We lost.”
Former Celtics star Paul Pierce’s 19-year NBA career came to an end at the final buzzer.
The 39-year-old had six points and three rebounds in 21 minutes for the Clippers. He averaged 11.1 minutes in the series.