The Los Angeles Clippers are on the short list of teams that have lost to the Utah Jazz this season.
The Clippers will try to avoid becoming the fourth team to lose twice to the Jazz this season when they meet on Friday night in Salt Lake City.
Utah beat the visiting Clippers 120-118 on Oct. 27 in the second game of the season. Since then, the only teams the Jazz have defeated are the Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans, getting two wins against each.
Utah’s season hit a low point on Wednesday night when the Jazz lost 147-97 on the road to the Dallas Mavericks, matching the second-worst loss in franchise history.
“That was an absolutely horrendous performance,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “It seemed like the Mavericks were moving at a different pace than we were from start to finish.”
When the Jazz face the Clippers for the second time on Friday, both teams will feature considerably different lineups than they did six weeks ago.
John Collins was the lone starter for the Jazz on Wednesday who also started against the Clippers earlier this season.
Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen scored 35 points in the previous win over Los Angeles, but he’s missed the past six games with a hamstring injury.
Jordan Clarkson, who averaged 19.5 points in November to move into second on the team in scoring (17.8) behind Markkanen (23.7), has missed the past three games with a thigh injury.
To find replacements, Hardy has been forced to look deep down his bench, most recently moving small forward Simone Fontecchio and center Omer Yurtseven into the starting lineup.
Neither played in Utah’s win against Los Angeles earlier this season.
Another player who didn’t appear in the first matchup against the Clippers was rookie forward Taylor Hendricks, the ninth overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft. He played a season-high 25 minutes on Wednesday in his third appearance of the season, finishing with 10 points and two steals.
Hardy was particularly impressed with Taylor’s defense.
“There’s little errors here and there to clean up, but I’ve appreciated his intensity,” Hardy said. “I’ve appreciated how much he’s given us on that end of the floor.”
Since the Clippers last faced the Jazz, they made one of the league’s biggest moves, trading for 10-time All-Star guard James Harden.
After a few games to adjust to the new addition, which included moving nine-time All-Star guard Russell Westbrook to a reserve role, the Clippers seem to be gelling. They’re 7-3 in their past 10 games, most recently posting back-to-back wins against the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets, winners of the past two NBA championships.
“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” Clippers forward Paul George said after scoring 25 points in a 111-102 win against the visiting Nuggets on Wednesday. “It’s a long season. One-game-at-a-time approach. We’re not looking too far ahead. We’re just staying in the moment, trying to get better each game. We’re scrapping out here. Anytime it comes to that, we’re playing for 48 minutes. We’ll live with the results.”
–Field Level Media