Preseason Game Thread V: Los Angeles Clippers at Utah Jazz

The injury-plagued Utah Jazz are looking to get back to their winning ways in a preseason rematch with Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Following a five-day break, the Utah Jazz are back in action on Monday night with a home bout against the Los Angeles Clippers. And while Jazz fans are looking for the team to get back to winning after suffering a total collapse against the Phoenix Suns last Wednesday, the Jazz are likely more focused on working out some kinks and getting healthy.

The latter department has quickly became an area of concern for the team. Gordon Hayward will be out for several more weeks with a broken finger, but he’s not the only one that’s banged up.

Derrick Favors hasn’t played since the preseason opener due to IT band syndrome; he’s doubtful to return against the Clippers. So too is Rodney Hood, who is dealing with a hand sprain. Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Alec Burks went hard on agility drills after Sunday’s practice, but he’s yet to play in the preseason and won’t be making his debut against L.A.

Joe Johnson recently hinted that the Jazz would be mostly ready to roll once the regular season hits, saying, “We’ve got a few guys banged up, but I’m sure they’ll be ready when the popcorn really starts popping.”

For now, though, the Jazz face a re-match with Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and a Clippers squad that they beat at Staples Center last week. The Clips are coming off a 109-108 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in which Griffin dropped 26 points in just 25 minutes of play.

Despite the fact that the Jazz won the first game between the two, a win could be hard to come by here. Especially if Hood, who scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first game, doesn’t play. The Clippers were slow out of the gate last time; I’m expecting them to ratchet up the effort and get more from their key guys with opening night looming.

The one caveat to that expectation revolves around Paul’s status for the game. The All-Star point guard injured his thumb in practice on Saturday and sat out on Sunday. He’s considered day-to-day, although Clippers coach Doc Rivers intimated that he’ll play in at least one of the team’s two remaining preseason games.

Wins and losses aside, the important thing for the Jazz is to continue to get newer players like Johnson, George Hill, Boris Diaw and Joel Bolomboy up to speed and to fine tune some of the things they’re doing out on the floor (three-point shooting, turnovers, defense, etc).

Let’s get out of this thing without any more injuries while we’re at it, eh?

Game Data

Broadcast Info

Tip-off: 7 PM MT from Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, UT
TV: ROOT Sports
Radio: The Zone Sports Network (97.5 FM & 1280 AM Salt Lake City)

Starting Lineups (UPDATED) 

Utah Jazz (2-2)

PG: George Hill
SG: Dante Exum
SF: Joe Johnson
PF: Boris Diaw
C: Rudy Gobert

Los Angeles Clippers (2-2)

PG: Austin Rivers
SG: J.J. Redick
SF: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
PF: Brandon Bass
C: Marreese Speights

Injuries (UPDATED)

Once again, Gordon Hayward (broken finger) and Alec Burks (rehab) are out. Derrick Favors (IT band syndrome) and Rodney Hood (hand sprain) are doubtful. As for the Clippers, Brice Johnson continues to be out with a herniated disk and Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Alan Anderson are all being held out (rest).

More from The J-Notes

• With the FIBA World Cup over for Simone Fontecchio, it’s clear he deserves minutes for the Utah Jazz
• Best, Worst and Most likely scenarios for the Utah Jazz this season
• Hoops Hype downplays the significance of the Utah Jazz’s valuable assets
• 3 Utah Jazz players who have the most to gain or lose this season
• Former Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay is a free agent still and it shouldn’t surprise anyone

Prediction (UPDATED)

Given the amount of key players being held out by the Clippers, I’m picking the Jazz to win and cover on their home floor.

Discussion

If you’re a Twitter person, the hashtag for Monday’s game is #LACatUTA. Also — I’ll be hitting you with sporadic observations @PurpleandBlues1. You can hit us up with your thoughts in the comments below as well!