Lob City smash: Clippers beat Jazz 99-91, even series at 1-1

Utah Jazz's Joe Ingles, left, shoots over Los Angeles Clippers' Marreese Speights during the second half in Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Tuesday, April 18, 2017, in Los Angeles. The Clippers won 99-91. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Blake Griffin led a smash-mouth revival of Lob City with 24 points, DeAndre Jordan had a double-double and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz 99-91 on Tuesday night to even their playoff series at 1-1.

Jordan finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds, and Chris Paul added 21 points and 10 assists for the Clippers, who crushed the Jazz in the paint, 60-38.

Los Angeles stormed to a 12-point lead in the first quarter, reeling off the kind of dunks that earned the team’s Lob City moniker years ago. Jordan’s tomahawk jam put an exclamation on the end of the period.

The Big Three of Griffin, Jordan and Paul combined on 10-of-13 shooting and six rebounds in the first, when the Clippers shot 65 percent. They outscored the Jazz 18-0 in the paint.

There was more to come in the second. Griffin powered down two dunks and Jordan again ended the scoring with an alley-oop slam from Jamal Crawford that sent the Clippers into halftime leading 51-42.

Gordon Hayward led the Jazz with 20 points. Joe Johnson, whose floater at the buzzer gave them a two-point win in Game 1, added 13 points off the bench.

Game 3 is Friday in Salt Lake City.

The Jazz never led in the game and got no closer than six points in the fourth.

Utah closed within three points early in the third on a basket by Derrick Favors, who started in place of injured Rudy Gobert. But Paul answered with a 3-pointer, then stole the ball from George Hill and cruised in for a layup before J.J. Redick scored, capping a 7-0 spurt to push the lead back to double digits.

The Clippers played defense down the stretch. Jordan came out to the perimeter to hound Hayward, while Griffin got in Johnson’s face. At one point, Paul’s mouthpiece went flying and landed on the opposite side of the court from him.

Griffin took a page out of Paul’s repertoire and buried a 3-pointer from the left corner, extending the Clippers’ lead to 97-88 with 1:35 to play.

TIP-INS

Jazz: Gobert, who injured his knee just 17 seconds into the series opener, joined two assistant coaches for a pregame meal in the media dining room, an area rarely visited by players. “He’s trying to get back as quick as he can,” coach Quin Snyder said. … In the second half, four costumed cows jumped up and down behind Utah’s basket, trying to distract free-throw shooters as part of a chicken sandwich promotion.

Clippers: J.J. Redick shot 2 for 6 for 4 points and had five fouls. … Jordan fouled out with 52 seconds left in the game and Paul had four fouls. … Griffin received a technical in the first quarter; the team also had one in Game 1.

UP NEXT

Game 3 is Friday in Salt Lake City.

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More AP NBA: apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

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