LA Clippers at Utah Jazz 6/8/21 - NBA Picks & Predictions

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Clippers visit the Utah Jazz for Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals best-of-seven series. The Clippers reached the semifinals by defeating the Dallas Mavericks 4-3 in their first-round series. The Clippers eliminated Dallas with a 126-111 victory on Sunday in the seventh and deciding game. Kawhi Leonard was the leading scorer for Los Angeles with 28 points and the Clippers were able to overcome a 46-point performance by Luka Doncic.

During the postseason, the leading scorer for Los Angeles is Kawhi Leonard with an average of 32.8 points per game, while Paul George is the second leading scorer and leading rebounder with averages of 23.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Rajon Rondo is the leader in assists with an average of 5.0 assists per game. The Clippers have three players averaging double-figures in scoring and as a team are scoring an average of 108.7 points per game. Serge Ibaka is questionable for Tuesday.

Utah reached the conference semifinals with a 4-1 victory in their best-of-seven series against the Memphis Grizzlies. Utah opened the postseason with a loss to Memphis and went on to win each of the next four games of the series to eliminate the Grizzlies. Utah point guard Mike Conley is listed as day-to-day with a slight hamstring strain and is the only player for Utah that might miss Tuesday’s series opener. 

During the postseason, Donovan Mitchell is the leading scorer for Utah with an average of 28.5 points per game, while the second leading scorer is Jordan Clarkson with an average of 18.6 points per game. Rudy Gobert is leading Utah in rebounds with an average of 13.0 rebounds per game and Mike Conley is the assists leader with an average of 8.6 per game. Utah has six players averaging double-figures in scoring and as a team is scoring an average of 123.4 points per game.