Lone Game 7 matches Utah, L.A.
Series survivor will rest briefly before facing Golden State.
LOS ANGELES — The opening round of the NBA playoffs is down to the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers, the only series to be extended to seven games.
The Clippers can finish off the Jazz today and advance to the Western Conference semifinals against Golden State, which has been waiting since Wednesday to find out its next opponent.
Whoever wins won’t have much time to rest. The Warriors host the series opener Tuesday.
Now in his 12th season, nine-time Clippers All-Star Chris Paul has yet to play in a conference finals.
“He is as competitive of a human be i ng t hat I ’ ve ever been around,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “When you put that with the talent and will, that’s why he has performances like this in big games.”
Paul had 28 points, eight assists, three rebounds and four turnovers in 38 minutes in a 98-93 victory late Friday.
“Doc said go out there and give yourself a chance,” Paul said.
D u r i n g a t i me o u t , h e looked over at 39-year-old teammate Paul Pierce, who plans to retire at the end of the season, his 19th.
“I said, ‘You’re not ending your career in Utah,’” Paul said. “We just said we’re going to keep this thing going for him.”
With Paul doing the heavy lifting, Jamal Crawford, Luc Mbah a Moute and Austin Rivers combined to score 38 points while making up for the loss of Blake Griffin, who is out for the rest of the season with a toe injury.
Without Griffin, Paul has been forced into doing the majority of the ballhandling, and he appeared tired near t he e nd o f t he Cl i pper s ’ loss in Game 5. Doc Rivers changed things up in Game 6 and surrounded Paul with fellow guards Crawford, Austin Rivers and Raymond Felton.
“That helped a lot,” Paul said.
T h e f i r s t s i x g a m e s between the fourth-seeded Clippers and No. 5 Utah have been decided by eight points or less.
It’s been so close that the teams are averaging 98 points each. They had identic al 51-31 records in the regu- lar season.
“This series has been a roller-coaster for both teams,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.
The Clippers can draw on experience in Game 7.
Two years ago, they won an elimination game in San Antonio and came home to win Game 7 by two points in the first round. In 2014, they defeated the Warriors in a Game 7 at home in the first round.
T h e yo u n g J a z z a re n’ t as playoff-tested, which is why they brought in veterans Joe Johnson, Boris Diaw and George Hill to surround Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert.
“We know what they’re going to run and they know what we’re going to run,” Hayward said. “It’s about execution. It’s about who wants it more, so we’ve got to be the team that wants it more.”
Gobert sustained a mild ankle sprain Friday, but he’s expected to be fine today.