DeAndre Jordan Struggled
Despite playing 13 more minutes than Jazz star Rudy Gobert, DeAndre Jordan looked far from superior. Gobert, on a minute restriction, played for 23 minutes compared to DJ’s 36. In those 23, Rudy connected on all 6 of his attempts for 15 points and hauled in 13 rebounds. Jordan was 5/8 from the field and grabbed a mere 10 rebounds, far below his average of 14 a game. He also made just 33% of his free throws, finishing 2/6 from the stripe.
To put it simply, he just appeared to be a step behind all night long. It was extremely uncharacteristic, and you have to wonder if he was rattled by Gobert and the deafening Utah crowd.
In Game 5, Jordan needs to have the same intensity he had in the Lob City-esque Game 2 performance. That’s the LA Clippers we need right now. It’s hard to be optimistic about our chances for the remainder of this series when Jordan is being outplayed like this.