What the Jazz need to do in Game 7


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LOS ANGELES — It's the most important Jazz game in 3,647 days.

Why that long? Well, that's the last time the Jazz had a Game 7, 10 years ago. On May 5, the Jazz faced off against the Houston Rockets on the road for first round superiority and the chance to play the 8th seed Golden State Warriors. Thanks to the playoffs starting five days later in 2007, it's exactly five days less than a decade to that date.

Just like then, on Sunday afternoon (1:30 p.m. MT, ABC) the Jazz will try to win the Game 7 on the road in order to play against the Warriors. What do they need to do to have a repeat of that magical game 3,647 days ago? Let's break down a few key items.

Find ways to penetrate

Against a new, more aggressive Clippers defense in Game 6, the Jazz struggled to break the paint in the second half. While the Jazz had a 42-36 lead in points in the paint overall, the second half was actually in the Clippers' favor, 22 to 16.

But the biggest problem is that, not only were the Jazz not getting inside for easy looks, they only rarely made the Clippers' defense rotate off of the Jazz's talented outside shooters. That meant the Jazz had a choice between contested 3-point shots and slightly-less-difficult-but-still-not-easy mid-range shots, and given their shooting woes in the first half, they chose the latter.

The Jazz have to do more to get their players the ball with a lane to the basket. Watch for more dribble hand-offs that the Jazz's ballhandlers will tightly follow, trying to curl around with space in front. Likewise, look for players like Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors be forced to make plays in the short roll when the Clippers send two players to form a wall to prevent the Jazz from getting looks inside.

Stay in front

While the Clippers used their teamwork, doubling, and a high big level on screens to prevent the Jazz from getting into the paint, the Clippers found their way in there more easily than they should have. Jamal Crawford, Chris Paul, and Austin Rivers all found themselves with opportunities to score just by driving to the rim around slower Jazz guards.

The Jazz will need to clean some of those things up in Game 7. I don't think helping more is the answer, because the Clippers do a pretty good job of spacing the floor. But the Jazz need to do a better job of applying ball pressure early in the play so that when the Clippers catch the ball, they don't have the space or momentum to take it to the rim. It's largely about doing homework early, something the Jazz can do a lot better if they're not forced into defending transition opportunities.

Tactically foul if the time is right

The Jazz did a great job of this in Game 6. DeAndre Jordan didn't get very many easy opportunities at the rim because he was fouled by the Jazz every time they had the opportunity when he had the ball down low. He ended up 3-11 from the FT line.

Quin Snyder had also called for the Jazz to start intentionally fouling DeAndre Jordan late, getting the first one in before Doc Rivers pulled Jordan in favor of Marreese Speights, a better FT shooter.

Snyder could have gone to the option earlier to give his team more of an offensive chance against the iffy Speights. I was somewhat surprised that Rivers pulled Jordan so quickly. Given that, it might make sense to start fouling Jordan earlier and see if you can't get him out of the game.

Make shots

This is obvious, but the Jazz struggled to make uncontested shots in Game 6. The Jazz shot just 13-33 on uncontested shots Friday night, according to SportVu. That's after a much better 22-41 performance in Game 5, especially at the end when they pulled away. The Jazz will need players like Rodney Hood (2-10 Friday, 0-6 from 3-point range), Joe Ingles (0-8 in his last two games for 0 points), and Joe Johnson (3-9 Friday) to make more shots in a do-or-die game.

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Andy Larsen

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