Live coverage: Utah Jazz trail LA Clippers by 13 at halftime of Game 1
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© Spenser Heaps, Deseret News Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives between LA Clippers forward Marcus Morris Sr. (8) and guard Luke Kennard (5) during game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 8, 2021.
The Utah Jazz and LA Clippers will tip off the last NBA conference semifinal playoff series on Tuesday night at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.
The top seed in the Western Conference, the Jazz enter the series having not played since last Wednesday when they beat the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 5 of the first round. The Clippers, on the other hand, were the last team to advance to the second round when they beat the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of their series on Sunday.
Utah on Tuesday will be without starting point guard Mike Conley, who suffered a mild strain of his right hamstring during that Game 5 win. LA will be without big man Serge Ibaka, who did not travel with his team to Salt Lake City because of a nagging back injury.
Game 1 is scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m. MT and will air on TNT. Follow along here for in-game updates and insights.
Third quarter: Jazz 79, Clippers 79
Having struggling mightily in the first half, the Jazz flipped a switch on both ends of the floor in the third quarter to charge back. Offensively, Donovan Mitchell was tremendous, as he scored 16 points. Defensively, Utah held LA to just 19 points, six of which came in the final two minutes of the frame.
Halftime: Clippers 60, Jazz 47
The Clippers are outplaying the Jazz on both ends of the floor, even as Utah’s offense got going better in the second quarter. Offensively, LA is shooting nearly 48 percent from the field compared to just 32 percent for Utah. The Clippers have made 11 of 23 3-point attempts while the Jazz have gone just 7 of 27. While the Jazz are getting good looks from 3 and just missing, LA is making it hard for Utah to get going inside.
First quarter: Clippers 25, Jazz 18
The first quarter can be boiled down to one stat: The Jazz shot an atrocious 5 of 28 from the field, including a whopping 21 consecutive misses. Donovan Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson are a combined 4 of 16 from the field, and Bojan Bogdanovic, Royce O’Neale and Georges Niang are a combined 0 of 8.