The Clippers had a short turnaround between their first-round series against Dallas and Game 1 against Utah, and after playing seven tough games, it was pretty clear that the team was fatigued.
That manifested itself most clearly in the two stars, as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both had poor shooting performances and didn’t have the requisite lift on their jumpers. Both of them had been averaging nearly 41 minutes in the first round, and they both got up to 36 in this series opener, but the rest of the Clippers rotation wasn’t ready for the same minutes load.