Utah Jazz vs Los Angeles Clippers 3/29/22: Starting Lineups, Matchup Preview, Betting Odds, Predictions
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Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Clippers Matchup Preview (3/29/22)
After one of the coldest streaks that any potential playoff team has had all season, the Utah Jazz have found themselves in a solid position, hovering between fourth and sixth place in the Western Conference and home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs. Utah will try to expand on its lead on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers for this matchup. These two teams faced off less than two weeks ago, and in that game, Utah slaughtered Los Angeles by nearly 30 points in a dominant win. However, the Jazz have suffered a few injuries since then, though, including to Rudy Gobert, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Hassan Whiteside. Bogdanovic has missed several games with a lower leg injury, and a timetable for his return has not been set. Gobert is day-to-day with a leg injury, but that seems to be pretty minor, and unless other news comes out, I expect him to play.
Meanwhile, the Clippers are awaiting a potential return of Paul George, who has missed several months due to an elbow injury. George was having a terrific year before getting injured, and the Clippers were thriving with him running the offense. There is increasing optimism that he will return by the time the play-in games start, especially considering that he is officially listed as questionable for this matchup with Utah! If George returns for this game or a game in the near future, Los Angeles has an outside chance of sneaking into the playoffs and facing either the Phoenix Suns or Memphis Grizzlies/Golden State Warriors. For further information and analysis, check out the additional sections below that cover who I think will win this game in a matchup between two tough Western Conference teams.
Update 3/29/22 5:06PM Eastern – Paul George is now expected to play tonight for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Clippers Betting Odds
The Clippers have gotten dusted in three straight games, including double-digit losses to the Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, and Utah Jazz. In their last matchup on March 18th, Utah beat Los Angeles by 29 points. While it may have been an away game, that still does not bode well for the Clippers. However, Paul George is now officially listed as available for this game, and that closes the gap drastically. George will contribute significantly on both ends for this matchup, especially on offense where LA has struggled. If the Clippers can get to 115-120 points, then they should win, but it is hard to say whether that will happen in George’s first game back or not. I will slightly lean Utah against the spread if Gobert plays, but I imagine I will sweat this one out.
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How To Watch
Date: 3/29/22
Time: 10:00 PM ET
Arena: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
Channel: TNT
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Utah Jazz Starting Lineup
PG: Mike Conley Jr.
SG: Donovan Mitchell.
SF: Royce O’Neale
PF: Juancho Hernangomez
C: Rudy Gobert
Utah Jazz Analysis
Utah had started to see some momentum picking up once it returned both Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell from their injuries at the beginning of February. Since February 1st, the Jazz have had an offensive rating of 118.9, which ranks seventh in the NBA, and a defensive rating of 112.2, which ranks fifth. Their 15-8 record has been impressive and has re-established them as one of the premier teams in a tough Western Conference. Unfortunately, Utah has dropped three straight games, but two of them were against formidable opponents in the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics. All three games were on the road, but you hope that they could have grabbed one win. Still, Utah should be a “tough out” by the time the playoffs roll around!
Los Angeles Clippers Starting Lineup
PG: Reggie Jackson
SG: Paul George
SF: Nicolas Batum
PF: Marcus Morris Sr.
C: Ivica Zubac
Los Angeles Clippers Analysis
Towards the end of last week, Paul George went through his first practice with the team in several months. Now, George has officially been listed as active and will return for this game! This is encouraging news for a Clippers team that seems to have a different leading scorer every single night. If you don’t follow the Clippers or the NBA exceptionally closely, you probably could not tell me who scored the most points for them in their game against the Philadelphia 76ers last Friday. The answer is Amir Coffey, who scored a team-high 21 points; the game before that, Coffey only posted six points in 19 minutes of action. That has been the consistent trend for these Clippers since they lost Paul George, and getting him back now gives them a legitimate chance to make not only the play-in games but the postseason, too.
Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Clippers Daily Fantasy Picks
If it weren’t for the Jazz’s massive losing streak this season, Donovan Mitchell’s name would probably be talked about a lot more. Mitchell has put together quite an impressive stretch of games, averaging nearly 33 points, five rebounds, and five assists on a 46/40/100 shooting split in his past six games. Also, in that period, Mitchell had two 37-point games and a 36-point game. The great part about plugging Mitchell into your lineup in DFS is that he contributes in other areas of the stat sheet besides scoring; he has spent a lot of time improving on his rebounding and passing abilities, which has benefitted not only him but his team as well.
The Los Angeles Clippers are such a difficult team to try and figure out for DFS purposes. It seems that they have a different leading scorer every other game, and their bench players often end up with more points than consistent starters. It is strange, but it has worked for them throughout this season. If you had to tie me to one or two players for DFS, I would consider Terance Mann, who I recently talked about in an article, and Amir Coffey. Coffey has a meager salary, considering he can put up big numbers if his number is called. For instance, Coffey posted 21 points, four rebounds, and three assists in his outing against the Philadelphia 76ers.
