Donovan Mitchell Powers Jazz to Win vs. Kawhi Leonard-Less Clippers
The Utah Jazz continued their strong 2019-20 start Wednesday after defeating the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 110-96 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.
A 38-20 third-quarter edge propelled Utah to its fourth win in five tries, with its lone loss coming against the 3-1 Los Angeles Lakers.
The Clips played without 2019 NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who rested on a scheduled load management day. He will return to the court on Thursday.
Utah moved to 4-1, and the Clips fell to 3-2.
Notable Performances
Clippers G Lou Williams: 24 points, 4 assists
Clippers F JaMychal Green: 23 points, 8 rebounds
Clippers F Montrezl Harrell: 10 points
Jazz G Mike Conley: 29 points, 5 assists
Jazz G Donovan Mitchell: 24 points, 5 rebounds
Jazz C Rudy Gobert: 13 points, 7 rebounds
Mike Conley Busts Out of Early Season Slump
Mike Conley's Utah Jazz tenure did not start well, with the ex-Memphis Grizzlies floor general shooting just 20 percent from the field through four games. That included a 1-of-16 night against the Oklahoma City Thunder and an 0-of-7 evening versus the Phoenix Suns.
Conley, who played 12 years in Memphis before an offseason trade, is a 44.0 percent shooter (37.4 percent from the three-point line). He wasn't about to shoot 20 percent for the rest of the season, but the question remained as to when the left-hander would begin to contribute more offensively.
That answer came Wednesday thanks to a 29-point performance on 11-of-17 shooting, including 5-of-8 from long range. He and backcourt mate Donovan Mitchell combined for 53 points to lead a powerful Jazz offense that made a blistering 55.0 percent of its shots and 45.8 percent of its threes.
Conley finished the evening with two more field goals (11) than he had all season until Wednesday (nine) and just two fewer points (29 vs. 31).
Eighteen of those 29 points came in the third quarter alone:
Tony Jones of The Athletic put it best:
Conley breaking out of his slump is bad news for the rest of the Western Conference.
Utah already had a stout defense led by center Rudy Gobert and a fledging superstar in Mitchell. The Jazz needed another piece to complement that young duo and have it in Conley, who looks ready to co-lead Utah to its best regular season since perhaps the John Stockton-Karl Malone era.
Clippers Offense Sputters Sans Leonard, George
Long-term takeaways from the Clippers' Wednesday performance are hard to find given that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were out for load management and a recovery to shoulder surgeries, respectively.
Frankly, a sputtering offense that failed to cross the century mark in points wasn't a major surprise considering their absences, Utah's No. 1 scoring defense and this game being on the road.
On future nights, Leonard and George will co-lead the offense, with Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell picking up the complementary scoring. Others will fill their roles, with Patrick Beverley and his tenacious defense playing a large part in particular.
But plans changed Wednesday, and Williams became the offensive catalyst, moving into the starting lineup and dropping 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
The problem was that the rest of the starting lineup sans Williams scored only 24 points combined on 10-of-28 shooting.
JaMychal Green dropped 23 off the bench, and Harrell contributed 10 on an efficient 5-of-9 line, but the Clips clearly needed Leonard to combat the tough Utah defense.
However, once Leonard (and George) return, the seeds are there for a championship run. The Clips have started 3-2 sans George for five games and Leonard for one, and with those two in the mix, a well-rounded group figures to have as good a chance as any Western Conference team to make the NBA Finals.
What's Next?
The Jazz will visit California for a two-game road trip beginning on Friday against the Sacramento Kings at 10 p.m. ET.
The Clippers will begin a five-game homestand against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday at 10:30 p.m.
The Jazz and Clippers will meet again soon, with L.A. hosting Utah on Sunday at 9 p.m.
