Kawhi-Less Clippers Eliminate NBA's Best Team

The Utah Jazz finished the 2020-2021 National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season with a league-best 52-20 slate. That earned the team the homecourt advantage throughout the 2021 playoffs. Unfortunately, they just came up short. Again.

Not even a 39-point performance from Donovan Mitchell could save Utah's season.

Playing in their second playoff game this year without Kawhi Leonard, the Los Angeles Clippers erased a 25-point deficit, scored 81 points in the second half, and came away with a 131-119 victory in Game Six of the Western Conference Semifinals best-of-seven series. The Clippers will next face the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals.

With Kawhi Leonard out, many people expected Paul George to pick up the slack again. Instead, it was the 39 points of Terence Mann that shone the brightest. Mann shot 15 for 24 from the field, including seven for ten shooting from rainbow country. He came into Game Six, averaging ten points in the Western Conference semifinals and four points in the first round.

Paul George finished with 28 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and three steals, while Reggie Jackson added 27 points and ten assists. Nic Batum contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks for the Clippers, who shot 56% from the field against a team that has the new Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert. The Clippers also shot 51% from the three-point line.

Donovan Mitchell shot 12 for 27 from the field, including nine threes for his 39 points to go along with nine rebounds and nine assists. Royce O'Neale added 21 points for Utah, who could keep up with the Clippers in the second half. Jordan Clarkson scored 21 points off the bench, while Gobert finished the season with 12 points and seven rebounds. The Jazz also gave up 21 fast-break points and turned the ball over 17 times.

After eliminating the best team in the NBA during the regular season, the Clippers' job doesn't get easier against a team that beat LeBron James in the first round and swept Nikola Jokic in the semifinals. While Chris Paul's availability for Game One remains a question as he recently entered the league's 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) health and safety protocols, the Clippers are facing the same situation with Kawhi Leonard. Either way, this is one West Finals match-up many expecting to go the distance.

Photo is from Los Angeles Times