The Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Clippers 110-102 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, to secure their second straight win and the eighth win of the season, continuing to ranking second in the Western Conference.

Both sides missed key players – the Jazz had to watch Jarred Vanderbilt sit while the Clippers sidelined Luke Kennard and, more importantly, Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers listed Leonard's absence as "injury management." Coach Tyronn Lue said the 31-year-old ace forward is processing well, but there is no time table for his return.

That means the Clippers again had to count everything on Paul George, especially on offense, in Sunday's game. Having averaged 32 points in the previous three games, George carried on his excellent form in the first three quarters against the Jazz, shooting 11-for-17 from the field, including 5-for-9 from downtown, to get 24 points.

It's unfair to say the rest of the Clippers failed to provide enough support to George. Marcus Morris did a good job of attacking small guards in mismatch; Terance Mann was very active with his off-ball cut-ins; John Wall's sharp drives in transition reminded people of him in better health before 2017.

However, their problem was a lack of consistency. Each of the above three only had offensive highlights in one quarter and in different quarter from each other. More importantly, none of them happened in the fourth quarter, when George shot went 0-for-5 from deep. The game was relatively close until the Jazz pulled the score away with 26-17 in this quarter.

Compared with the Clippers, the Jazz were more balanced in making contributions. Jordan Clarkson matched George's overkilling firepower in the first three quarters by draining five triples to get 20 points; Mike Conley contributed to play like an assassin with his cunning penetration, floaters and 3-point shooting; when both sides were running out of strengths in the final quarter, Collin Sexton stood out to get nine valuable points for the Jazz.

The Jazz's twin tower pair of Lauri Markkanen and Kelly Olynyk played an integral role too in their team's victory on Sunday night. Their presence at the 3-point line forced Ivica Zubac to step out of the paint where he could maximize his defensive power. Since both Markkanen and Olynyk could move the ball well around the free throw line, they often fed their teammates cutting into the vacuum left by Zubac for easy layups.

Theoretically Zubac should be able to make Markkanen and Olynyk pay on the offensive end with his power advantage and good finishing ability, Nonetheless, that didn't happen. Zubac was not aggressive enough on either offense or defense, he also suffered a nasty block from rookie Walker Kessler in Sunday's game.

Despite the loss, coach Lue's efforts in the second still deserved credit. He sent a small-ball squad in which Nicolas Batum and Morris paired from the interior. Such arrangement contained the Jazz because their big men, Markkanen and Olynyk both lack enough power to bully the paint. With faster defensive rotations, the small squad of the Clippers were more aggressive in cutting the ball and driving early offense, which was why Wall grew more efficient in attacking.

However, players grew tired more quickly when they had to guard someone bigger than them, not to mention that the Clippers already had no reliable offensive option in the fourth quarter. If Leonard had been there, not only did he fit in the team's defense perfectly, his isolation skills were exactly what they needed on the finishing end.

Other games on Sunday (away teams come first):

Cleveland Cavaliers 114-100 Los Angeles Lakers

The Cavaliers (8-1) continued to follow closely behind the Eastern Conference leader Milwaukee Bucks after securing their eight consecutive win at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday. The whole team walked to the free throw line as many as 36 times and scored 32 points there. They limited the opponents' score to 36 points in the second half, which couldn't have happened without the remarkable performances of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.

The Lakers suffered two straight losses after two straight wins. Russell Westbrook contributed a double-double of 19 points and 10 assists off the bench after shooting 5-for-6 in field goals in first quarter. Nonetheless, he shot only seven attempts in the rest of the game. When LeBron James scored 10 of the team's 16 points in the third quarter, you knew the purple and gold were likely to crumble again.

Chicago Bulls 104-113 Toronto Raptors

As Zach LaVine sat on Sunday's game at Scotiabank Arena for the Bulls, the Raptors invested all of their defensive attention in DeMar DeRozan, who had to face trapping during most of his time on the court. Though he went efficiently enough 7-for-9 from the field to get 20 points, that was far from enough to lead his team to victory.

Having missed three games due to injury, Fred VanVleet returned for the Raptors on Sunday night and dropped a double-double of 30 points and 11 assists. Though shooting 5-for-13 at the 3-point line was not very efficient, VanVleet's teammates gave him good reasons to first at his will by grabbing 23 offensive rebounds, which led to 27 second-chance points.

Washington Wizards 97-103 Memphis Grizzlies

Ja Morant and Desmond Bane combined to drop 51 points for the Grizzlies, outscoring the whole starting lineup of the Wizards. The two also shot and made more free throws (10-for-12) than the whole team of the opponents (7-for-10). In fact, the Grizzlies' victory could have been much bigger as led by as many as 23 points (69-46) in the third quarter. Nonetheless, they watched opponents launch a 19-0 run in less than five minutes in that quarter.

The Wizards should have a much better chance to come back if they hadn't shot as badly as 8-for-41 in triples. They entered the fourth quarter trailing by only seven points (74-81), but cut the deficit by only one in the final quarter after missing all of their nine attempts at the 3-point line.