Jazz shootaround: Hayward, Gobert ready to play normal minutes in Game 5


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LOS ANGELES — The Jazz held shootaround ahead of their crucial Game 5 matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers Tuesday. Small forward Gordon Hayward, center Rudy Gobert and head coach Quin Snyder spoke to the media.

Gordon Hayward is feeling better

Gordon Hayward had to leave Game 4 because of a bout of food poisoning that he and his wife, Robyn, picked up Sunday. "I haven't been that sick in years, maybe ever," Hayward said.

"Went back, slept it off, and the next morning felt tremendously better," Hayward said. "I'm back to normal."

The good news: he's back at 100 percent for Tuesday's Game 5.

"I got it from a sandwich from a place," Hayward said, trying to avoid putting the offending restaurant out of business. He did say he wouldn't be going to that restaurant ever again.

Rudy Gobert's knee

Rudy Gobert also said his knee was feeling "good" after the game's shootarounds. Interestingly, he's not working out less on his knee, trying to save himself for games. In fact, it's the other way around: he's doing more workouts than before to strengthen the knee and get his conditioning level to a point where he can play his normal lengthy stretches.

To me, that says that the knee contusion isn't as big of a deal as the hyperextension, which he wears a brace to protect. That's very different from Derrick Favors' knee contusion, which gives him pain and limits his explosiveness at varying levels.

We'll see how he does in his second game back from injury, but it seems like he thinks that he'll play at about 100 percent. With only eight days between when the injury happened and his return, that's a major win for the Jazz.

Pick and roll coverage with different players

Two things changed the tide of Game 4: Joe Johnson's absurd shotmaking and smart work to find the open man, and Derrick Favors' trapping defense of Chris Paul in the fourth quarter. I was a little bit surprised with how much the Clippers and Paul struggled with the look.

"I don't think we came up with anything ingenious," Snyder said. "We've tried a lot of different things, and some of them have been more successful than others. And usually, after a period of time, he's able to figure that out."

But it does make sense that the Clippers did struggle: with Luc Mbah a Moute on the floor, the Jazz were very okay with getting the ball out of Paul's hands and forcing someone else to make a play, even with the temporary 4-on-3.

With time to prepare, though, I do expect the Clippers to come up with a counter. Maybe they play Austin Rivers at the end of the game instead of Mbah a Moute. That would give whoever Mbah a Moute is matched up against (likely Hayward) better looks on the other end, but might be worth it in the end.

The other thing the Clippers can do: just avoid running screens for Paul that take him towards the edges of the court. The trapping is way more effective when the sideline can be used as a third defender. While that gives the Jazz more options on how to defend it, it's probably still worth the spacing advantages.

"No matter what you do, he figures it out," Snyder said about Paul. "To me, he's an all-time great."

But we also know that Snyder has thought of these potential adjustments, and has adjustments ready for those too. That's why Snyder thinks the playoffs are fun: the level of detail required is right in his wheelhouse.

"It's a chance to have some level of impact on the game that during the 82-game regular season there isn't as much preparation time," Snyder said. "You're also able to impact the game negatively too, so it goes both ways."

Austin Rivers back

Austin Rivers is back for Game 5 after missing the last 26 days with a hamstring injury. That's a big boost to the Clippers, who have really missed his skillset: an ability to get to the rim and an ability to defend at least a little.

"He gives them more depth on the perimeter, gives them more size," Snyder said. "Another guy to guard Gordon at some point."

Rivers, though, won't be back to the 30 minutes a night pace he was at before hurting himself in March. His original minute restriction was going to be 12 minutes, though Rivers told reporters on Monday that it would be a little higher than that, given the importance of the game.

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Andy Larsen

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