SALT LAKE CITY — With 1:44 remaining in the game and his team up by three, Blake Griffin took an 18-foot jumper with Derrick Favors' hand in his face.
Swish.
The shot brought the score to 94-89 — the same numbers the scoreboard would feature when the clock hit zeros — and helped the Los Angeles Clippers hold off the Utah Jazz for their sixth straight win.
Although it wasn’t the result they wanted, the Jazz showed a tremendous amount of growth in the loss — especially Enes Kanter.
The Turkish big collected 21 points and 11 rebounds on a solid 8-of-16 from the floor and is now averaging 19.6 points and 10.8 boards per game in his last five contests.
Kanter also helped limit Griffin to just 17 points on 7-for-17 shooting.
“If you want to be anything in this league, you have to play with an edge,” Kanter said. “I think that’s what we did tonight.”
Like Kanter, Derrick Favors also played with an edge, finishing with nine rebounds and two blocks.
Offensively, No. 15 scored 18 points on an efficient 8-of-13 from the field. He scored in transition, via cuts to the hoop and off catch-and-shoot jumpers.
Trevor Booker and Joe Ingles also helped the Jazz stand toe-to-toe with one of the hottest teams in the league.
Thanks in large part to Booker, who grabbed nine boards, the Jazz out-rebounded the Clippers 47-37.
Ingles, meanwhile, filled the stat sheet with 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds. The Aussie rookie also had a steal that led to a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Kanter for an and-1 flush.
“Try to get guys involved,” Ingles said. “If I see a pass, I’m gonna make it. If I see a shot, I’m gonna to shoot it. Just trying to read what the defense gives me, and tonight, especially early on, I got in the lane and found a few guys early.”
Three-point shooting was the only area in which the Jazz truly struggled. As a team, they hit just 5-of-24 from behind the arc.
“Just gotta execute a little better on offense and we’ll be fine,” Ingles said.
Jared Bray is a contributing writer for the Deseret News. He also reports in English and Tagalog (a language he learned while serving a two-year church mission in the Philippines) for Balitang America, a nightly news program of The Filipino Channel.