LA Clippers ‘just wanted it more’ on the offensive glass, hand Utah Jazz a second straight loss, 105-94

LOS ANGELES — Last week when the Utah Jazz met the Los Angeles Clippers, they handed the SoCal squad a 110-96 defeat at Vivint Arena on the strength of a 29-point performance from Jazz guard Mike Conley.

To be fair, that night the Clippers were without Paul George — who has yet to play this season — and Kawhi Leonard, who took the night off for load management rest.

Sunday night, the scene and situation were both different as the two teams squared off again, this time in sunny Southern California where the Clippers were less shorthanded, on their home floor and ready to get some payback from what happened in their previous meeting.

Led by Leonard’s 30 points and the Clippers’ huge 40-point fourth quarter, Los Angeles avenged the early-season loss by dropping the Jazz 105-94 at Staples Center despite a strong 36-point performance from Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell.

“They just wanted it more on the boards, and that’s what ended up costing us the game.” — Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell

Mitchell said the difference in this game was the Clippers’ dominance on the offensive glass as they captured 18 offensive boards, compared to Utah’s six for the game.

“They just wanted it more on the boards, and that’s what ended up costing us the game,” he said. “We just have to make it more of an urgency. They were the aggressor, and we’ve just got to find a way to combat that.”

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Mitchell noted the same issue was a major factor in losing against to the Sacramento Kings in the team’s previous game Friday night. He said the solution is as simple as putting “a (Jazz) body on a body (from the other team)” and going hard after every offensive rebound opportunity.

“Go get it and want it more than they do,” Mitchell said.

Utah led early — jumping out to an 8-0 lead — while the Clippers missed on each of their first five shots. But L.A. got its offense going due in part to the spark of guard Lou Williams’ four points off the bench that helped close the gap to 13-12 with just under three minutes remaining in the first period. Utah finished the period with a 20-16 lead.

The Jazz went stone cold during the second period, allowing the Clippers to open up a 12-point lead before back-to-back treys from Jazz men Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanovic helped close the gap to 36-30. Later, a Joe Ingle trey tied the game at 39 with just over a minute to play in the half.

Mitchell put the Jazz up on a nifty spinning finger-roll layup in the closing seconds, allowing Utah to take a 41-39 lead into the break. He led all first-half scorers with 14 points as Utah shot just 34.1% from the floor, while the Clippers posted a 34.9% shooting percentage.

Both teams opened up the second half with more energy as they traded baskets, before Utah built a five-point lead. Near the midway point of the period, Jazz forward Royce O’Neale found Mitchell on the break for a spectacular lob slam at the seven-minute mark of the quarter, giving Utah a 56-49 lead. Later in the quarter, a put-back by Jazz backup center Tony Bradley pushed Utah out to a 61-51 advantage with just under four minutes to play in the third. Los Angeles was able to trim the lead but the Jazz still led 69-65 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Clippers tied the game at 74 at the nine-minute mark of the fourth period. The relatively low scoring was indicative of both teams poor shooting. A put-back by Clippers forward JaMychal Green and a trey from Leonard put L.A. up 82-76 at the 7:29 mark, sending the home crowd into a frenzy and prompting a timeout from Jazz coach Quin Snyder to quell the increasing momentum.

A couple of baskets and a free throw from Mitchell, along with two free throws from center Rudy Gobert, helped draw the Jazz even at 84 after the timeout. But the Clippers answered and opened up a 99-90 lead with under two minutes to play.

The Jazz tried in vain to mount a late comeback but were unable.

Mitchell said that despite his good offensive play, he needs to work on other facets of the game that can help his team win more games.

“I’m confident whenever I’m on offense, but I’ve got to do a better job of finding guys,” he said. “A lot of times you attack to shoot; now I’ve got to be able to make the play and hit the pass (when necessary). I’ve been working on that a lot, but I’ve just got to be able to do it more often.”

Next up for the Jazz are the Philadelphia 76ers at home on Wednesday at Vivint Arena.