It's just a noisy hall, where there's a nightly brawl, and all that jazz.
Blake Griffin scored 26 points as the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Utah Jazz 88-72 in a defensive slugfest on Monday night at the Vivint Smart Home Arena.
The NBA's Player of the Week fell four assists shy of a triple-double as he finished with 10 rebounds, six assists and two blocks as the Clippers' defense held the Jazz to a season-low 72 points.
BG goes coast-to-coast to start the 2nd half!
��: #PrimeTicket#ItTakesEverything pic.twitter.com/L4ZZcMDyvn — LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 14, 2017
L.A. led from wire-to-wire as their only All-Star, DeAndre Jordan, finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Austin Rivers chipped in 15 points.
Jamal Crawford scored 11 points off the bench, and continued to gain ground on teammate Paul Pierce (2,1328) for all-time three-point field goals made in the NBA. Crawford is 129 three-pointers away from moving into fourth on the all-time list.
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.@JCrossover from D E E P.
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LAC 76 | UTA 49#ItTakesEverything pic.twitter.com/kRky8dTcm1 — LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 14, 2017
For weeks, Clippers' head coach Doc Rivers has been pleading with his team to play a full 48 minutes of defense, an attribute that has been lacking for the Clippers without floor general Chris Paul.
On Monday, the Clippers put together their best defensive effort of the season, holding the Jazz to just 33 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent from beyond the arc, both season lows for Utah.
Los Angeles allowed just 49 points after three quarters before allowing 23 points to the Jazz in the fourth quarter, their first quarter of over 20 points on the night.
Derrick Favors led Utah with 13 points and Rudy Gobert had 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Jazz only All-Star, Gordon Hayward, was held to just seven points on 2-of-12 shooting including just 1-of-6 from the three-point line.
The victory was the Clippers ninth straight against the Jazz in Utah, tied for their longest active winning streak on the road against any opponent.
The game featured a potential first round matchup in the NBA Playoffs as the Clippers and Jazz currently stand in fourth and fifth place, respectively in the Western Conference standings.
If the season ended today, the Clippers would host the Jazz in the first round with the first two games at Staples Center.
