Utah @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 30, 2019 ) L.A. Clippers 96, Utah 110

Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers are showing signs that they intend to compete for a championship this season and have yet to fall at home. The road has not been quite as friendly, and the Clippers will try to avenge a road loss when they host the Utah Jazz on Sunday.

Los Angeles is trying to manage Leonard's workload and elected to hold him out at Utah on Wednesday and didn't have quite enough without him to avoid a 110-96 setback, but the team bounced back as Leonard returned with 38 points and 12 rebounds in a 103-97 triumph over San Antonio on Thursday. "Tonight, he showed his genius, man," Clippers sixth man Lou Williams told reporters of Leonard after the win. "He just literally put us on his back and made play after play down the stretch, especially in the fourth quarter when I couldn't get going and nobody else could make shots. He really carried us." The Jazz followed up their win over Los Angeles with a disappointing performance in a 102-101 loss to the previously winless Sacramento Kings on Friday. "We were in the game, but we didn't do the things we needed to do to win, things that we could control," Utah coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "...We've got to be tougher with the ball. They were physical with us, and just more precise and more forceful. It's something we're capable of doing. We just need to turn it up and do it."

TV: 9 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), FS Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)

ABOUT THE JAZZ (4-2): Point guard Mike Conley enjoyed a breakout with his new team in the win over the Clippers, going off for a season-high 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Conley slumped to 5-of-13 from the floor at Sacramento and is shooting 33.3 percent on the season with 10 assists and nine turnovers over the last three contests. Carrying the scoring load is shooting guard Donovan Mitchell (24 points) and small forward Bojan Bogdanovic (20.4), who is making a smooth transition to the team while shooting 51.5 percent from the floor and 48.4 percent from beyond the arc.

ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (4-2): Leonard leads the team in scoring (29.2 points) and rebounds (7.6) while also setting the pace in assists (6.2), and his playmaking in the absence of a true point guard on the roster is a big bonus for Los Angeles. "Kawhi's been easy to integrate," Clippers coach Doc Rivers told reporters. "You just give him the ball. I'm no fool. But the spacing, what we've learned about Kawhi is how well he sees the floor and the type of passer that he is." The beneficiary of some of those passes and the open space that Leonard creates is power forward Montrezl Harrell, who is averaging 19.3 points on 74.2 percent shooting.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Jazz C Rudy Gobert recorded a double-double in two of the last three games.

2. Los Angeles SG Landry Shamet is 6-of-25 from 3-point range over the last four games.

3. Utah took six of the last seven in the series.

PREDICTION: Clippers 107, Jazz 99