SALT LAKE CITY — Monday night’s Jazz-Clippers game was not only a big game with possible playoff implications, it was a chance for Rudy Gobert to show why he, not DeAndre Jordan, deserved to be on the Western Conference All-Star team.
Although he hasn’t talked much about it, Gobert has made it known he was disappointed not to be selected to the All-Star Game. And with Jordan being selected as a backup center for the West all-stars, he probably took Gobert’s spot on the team.
As it turned out, the two centers pretty much played to a draw Monday night with nearly identical numbers as both finished with 10 points, while Gobert had one more rebound (14) than Jordan, who had two more blocked shots (3).
Clippers' coach Doc Rivers thought Jordan made a significant impact on the defensive end, saying, "He was huge. I thought DJ's defense set the tone for us."
“We didn’t play with force,” said Gobert. “We looked kind of nervous offensively. We looked like we weren’t moving the ball like we used to and we got down pretty quick.”
While the play of Gobert and Jordan made little difference in the Clippers’ blowout win, a guy who usually makes the All-Star Game, but didn’t this year because of a knee injury that kept him out of 18 games, was a huge factor in the outcome.
Blake Griffin, who just came back from a knee injury late last month, was the best player on the floor, scoring 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting, with 10 rebounds.
Afterward, Griffin talked about his team’s defense rather than his own offense.
“I thought we did a great job of giving them the shots that we wanted to give them,” he said. “I just like our intensity to start — it was good from beginning to end.”
Meanwhile, the only other All-Star in the game, Utah’s Gordon Hayward, had one of his poorest games of the season, finishing with just seven points on 2-of-12 shooting
Afterward, Hayward talked a lot about all the missed Jazz shots and took put some of the blame on himself.
“I had some good looks early and didn’t knock them down,” he said. “If I hit those, it’s a different game and maybe it’s a different outcome, but tonight we didn’t hit shots.”
Derrick Favors ended up leading the Jazz in scoring with 13 points and afterward he talked about his game as well as Griffin’s.
“He’s good, but I wasn’t really worried about him,” he said. “I’m worried about me. He’s a good player. I felt like I was good. Got into a rhythm there and I feel like I’m moving better, my wind is better and my shot’s coming back.”
The Jazz have one more game before the All-Star break, against Portland Wednesday and then most of the team gets a week off, except for Hayward who will play in Sunday’s game and Trey Lyles and Dante Exum, who will both play in the Rising Stars Challenge.