That's when another one of Snyder's remarks became prescient. They won 50 or more games for the fifth straight season, joining San Antonio as the only teams to do so. Utah is 36-42-3 against the spread this season and the Jazz are average 104 points per game over their last five while allowing 101.8 per game in their last five. That said, he is no Chris Paul, a perennial candidate for Most Valuable Player and a future Hall of Famer. San Antonio (61-21) closed the regular season on a four-game losing streak. Now on three-game winning streak, the Pacers have a 79.5% chance to make the playoffs and could be a threat to a top seed if Indiana's biggest star keeps up his current pace.
Most people don't care about the Jazz.
Both the Clippers and Jazz have questions in the frontcourt.
LOS ANGELES In a flawless world, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan would not have been on the court in the second half of the Clippers' regular-season finale on Wednesday, a 115-95 victory over the Sacramento Kings. Primary defensive credit and responsibility goes to forward Luc Mbah a Moute, who has the size and skill to slow down a player as talented as Hayward. Both Alec Burks and Joe Ingles are more than capable of playing defense and scoring on the offensive side of the ball and Crawford couldn't stay with them if he tried. The Clippers have their own All-Star in the frontcourt, of course: Griffin. He set the mark in each of the past two seasons. The difference this year is the addition of a 3-point shot.
Obviously, Hayward isn't making his free agency plans clear just yet, but recent rumors are hinting that Jazz fans may have something to be anxious about.
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That meant Paul, Griffin and Jordan needed to go to work to ensure that Games 1 of the best-of-7 series against Utah would open at Staples Center. Jordan might be just as imposing at the rim. Every game is very meaningful.
Utah doesn't have a ton of playoff experience among the main cogs of its roster, while the Clippers' core four have years of postseason play under their belt together. For the night, the Kings shot 49.4% from the floor, 45.5% from the perimeter, and 71.4% from the free-throw line.
"Honestly, as I know and you know, it still starts all over, whether you're playing well or not", Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.
Utah, coming off a win over National Basketball Association leader Golden State, finished the regular season with a 51-31 win-loss record. In fact, the Jazz had their preferred starting lineup for just 13 of 82 regular-season games. "We've never had any goals about winning games, or this, that or the other during the season - just try to keep improving, and be the best you can be by the time the playoffs come".
In nearly any other realistic matchup, the Jazz would be a trendy pick to advance. "And it's very important our veterans are quality people and good players to take some of the hits for those guys and yet be patient with those guys as they grow and make some mistakes". In doing so, they locked down the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoffs, giving them home-court advantage in their opening-round series against the Utah Jazz. With questions about their will, chemistry and offseason plans, the Clippers are desperate to move on.
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