Apr 23, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz guard George Hill (3) uses a pick set by Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) to get away from LA Clippers guard Raymond Felton (2) during the second quarter in game four of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Photo Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
SALT LAKE CITY — Joe Johnson scored 26 points, and Rudy Gobert added 15 points and 13 rebounds in his first game back from injury to lead the Utah Jazz to a 105-98 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series on Sunday night.
Utah evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece. It was the first home playoff win for the Jazz in seven years.
Game 5 is scheduled for Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Rodney Hood chipped in 18 points for the Jazz, and Derrick Favors added 17 off the bench.
The Jazz won even though Gordon Hayward did not play in the second half. The forward left with 8:42 left in the second quarter and did not return. Hayward was struggling with food poisoning, and he finished with three points and two rebounds in nine minutes.
Chris Paul totaled 27 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds to lead Los Angeles. Jamal Crawford chipped in 25 points off the bench for the Clippers, and DeAndre Jordan had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Los Angeles played its first game without forward Blake Griffin, who was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs Saturday due to a toe injury.
With Gobert back in the lineup and Griffin out, Utah dominated in the paint and on the glass. The Jazz had a 42-31 edge in rebounds and outscored Los Angeles 58-36 in the paint.
After trailing for much of the fourth quarter, Utah took a 99-92 lead with 1:30 remaining behind a decisive 19-5 run. Johnson fueled the run with baskets on four consecutive possessions — ending in a go-ahead floater — and Hood punctuated the spurt with back-to-back baskets.
Bench production lifted Utah in the first quarter. Favors made three straight baskets after checking in for the first time. Joe Johnson followed with a pair of floaters and Hood drilled a 3-pointer to give the Jazz a 22-14 lead.
Los Angeles took advantage of a prolonged Utah offensive drought spanning the first and second quarters to reclaim the lead. The Jazz went nearly 4 1/2 minutes without scoring a point, opening the door for a Clippers run.
The Clippers ripped off a 15-4 run, capped by Raymond Felton’s 3-pointer to open the second quarter, to take a 29-24 lead. Utah finally broke the ice on Hood’s free throws with 9:49 left before halftime.
The Jazz closed the gap over the course of the second quarter and tied it on back-to-back baskets from Hood. They finally took a 53-49 lead on back-to-back layups from Gobert.
Los Angeles went back in front 63-61 after Paul turned a steal into a fadeaway jumper midway through the third quarter. Utah closed within a point twice late in the quarter on baskets from Johnson and Dante Exum. Felton and Paul answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Clippers’ lead back to four at 76-72.
NOTES: Clippers G Jamal Crawford made a playoff-career-high five 3-pointers. … Jazz G Joe Ingles dished out a career-high 11 assists. His previous high was eight against Minnesota on April 7. … Game 4 marked the first time in the series that Los Angeles finished with fewer points in the paint than Utah. … The Utah bench outscored the Los Angeles bench 66-37.
