The set-up: The Jazz and Clippers were each 51-31 during the regular season but LA earned the home court edge in this first round series due to a tiebreaker. After four games, the series is tied at two-all, with each team winning once on its opponents' home court. However, the series has been overshadowed by key injuries to both Utah center Rudy Gobert and LA power forward Blake Griffin. Gobert went down in the first minute of Game 1 but returned in Game 4 to score 15 points and grab 13 rebounds. Griffin was lost in Game 3, when the Clippers won in Utah but he's now out for the rest of the playoffs.

Utah: Gobert's return was huge boost for the Jazz but the team's best player, SF Gordon Hayward, was limited to just nine minutes in Utah's Game 4 win, due to food poisoning. He took IV fluids prior to the game but to no avail. Hayward scored a career-high 40 points in Game 3 and is expected to give it a go tonight at Staples Center. Swingman Joe Johnson came up again big in the Game 4 win, scoring 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting. He also nailed the game-winner in Game 1 at the buzzer and heads into tonight's game averaging 19.3 PPG in the series.

LA Clippers: Will the Clippers' luck ever change? Griffin's absence inside during LA's fourth-quarter collapse in Game 4 was noticeable and magnified by Marreese Speights' poor effort (five points on 2-of-8 shooting). Los Angeles will likely be relying on the backcourt play of Paul (27 points in Game 4), Jamal Crawford (25 points) and J.J. Redick for the remainder of the series. However, while Crawford made 5-of-7 three-pointers on Sunday, he had missed all 11 he attempted during the first three games. As for Redick, he's averaged only 7.8 PPG in thed series (down from averaging 15.0 PPG during the regular season!), making only 34.5% from the floor, including 26.7% on threes.

The pick: I believe the Clippers are headed for another playoff disappointment. Why wait until the second round to get blown out by the Warriors? Take the points and make the Jazz a 10* play.