SALT LAKE CITY _ It required the Los Angeles Clippers to dig deep and make a stand in Game 6 of the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
With all the resolve they could summon, the Clippers broke through to save their season with a 98-93 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
L.A. had come here having lost Game 5 at Staples Center, putting the Clippers in a 3-2 hole, the odds squarely in favor of the Jazz because the team that won the fifth game in an NBA series had won the best-of-seven series 84.4 percent of the time.
But the determined Clippers staved off elimination to tie the series at 3-3, playing stellar defense and efficiently on offense to force a deciding Game 7 at Staples on Sunday.
It wasn't easy for the Clippers to close out a game they led by 10 points with 1:29 left.
Back-to-back turnovers by Chris Paul allowed the Jazz to close to within 96-93 after Gordon Hayward (31 points) made a three-pointer with 43.6 seconds left.
After Paul missed a shot and DeAndre Jordan missed the put-back, the Jazz had one last shot.
But Joe Johnson, who had saved the Jazz all series, missed a three-pointer, and the ball went out of bounds to the Clippers.
Paul (29 points) made two free throws for the final margin with 2.6 seconds left.
The Clippers, who had the same record as Utah during the regular season, won the season series with the Jazz to give them the home-court advantage.
They lost the edge by falling in Game 1, now they have earned it back after shooting 49 percent, including 43 percent on three-pointers.
Jamal Crawford, having an inconsistent series, came alive in the second half, scoring all 12 of his points.
Jordan dominated the backboards, collecting 18 rebounds to go along with 13 points.
The Clippers made one adjustment by starting Austin Rivers at forward over Marreese Speights, who had started the last two games in place of the injured Blake Griffin (right toe injury).
Rivers and Speights provided a lift.
Speights had all nine of his points in the first half to keep the Clippers in the game.
Rivers had 13 points.
Luc Mbah a Moute added 13 points and six rebounds.
But the biggest reason why the Clippers opened a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter was because of their defense.
They held the Jazz to 41 percent shooting, 26.9 percent from three-point range.
The Clippers began the third quarter being sloppy, turning the ball over on their first four possessions, forcing Clippers Coach Doc Rivers call a timeout with 9:17 left in the quarter.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Rivers yelled at his players while moving his hands frantically over and over.
They did, opening a 78-70 lead entering the fourth after a Jordan two-handed, hanging-on-the-rim follow dunk to end the third quarter.
The Clippers got down by nine points in the first quarter, but picked up their defense and wound up trailing by only two points by the end of the first 12 minutes.
That's because the Clippers held the Jazz to 38.1 percent shooting in the first, and one for five on three-pointers.
The Clippers didn't back down from their defensive pressure, especially when defending the Jazz three-point shooters.
Utah made just 23.1 percent of its three-pointers in the first half, which included Hayward missing all four of his three-pointers.
